Once Bitten
by Chrono21
Summary: Hisoka dissappeared for five years, and when Tsuzuki finally finds him again, he's pushing the other shinigami away more than ever. Is it true what they say about once bitten, twice shy? Btw: My summaries suck! Tsusoka.
1. Prologue

Me: Okey-doke, here it is, my first Yami no Matsuei fic ever.

Muse: Took ya long enough.

Me: I didn't see you helping. Anyways, please read and review, and if you find any spelling errors please give me the heads up. I hate those, it's my #1 pet peeve.

Muse: Aren't you going to weird out the reviewers like you usually do?

Me: Silence! I'm trying to be nice for a change!

Muse: Run away before she steals your soul and sells it on e-bay!

Me: Ignore the muse in the background. Like I said, this is my first Yami no Matsuei fic, but now that I'm getting around to posting it, there's not much to talk about. I have about seven chapters of this so far, but now that I'm posting it I'm kinda wondering how long that lead will last. Oh well, on to business.

**Disclaimer**: I'm only gonna say this once, so listen up! I don't own Yami no Matsuei. You would not want me to own Yami no Matsuei. Odds are that you'd all die of unrealistic character torture before we even got close to the ending. I believe in happy endings, but I do love my character torture.

**Pairings**: Tsusoka is my ruling pairing. May have minor pairings later on if I feel like it.

**Summary**: Hisoka dissappeared for five years, and when Tsuzuki finally finds him again, he's pushing the other shinigami away more than ever. Is it true what they say about once bitten, twice shy?

_Prologue_

_All was quiet at the Kurosaki home. _

_He could hear it all from below in the basement, a silence that seemed to sink deep into his very being. His emerald eyes peered into the gloom, trying hard to suppress his shaking. He hated the darkness, always had, but the silence was too much to bear, seeming to foreshadow awful things that his imagination produced seamlessly without any provocation from its owner. _

_He pulled his legs up to his chest and buried his face against them, his own darkness much more comforting to him than that which was around him. He continued to listen carefully for anyone that might come. Everyone always called him weak and selfish, and they were probably right, but he always made certain that they never caught him like this, always composed and ready. He hated them all, but most of all he hated to be considered weak, unworthy._

_He looked up at the window, half caked with mud, finding small comfort in the moonlight streaming through. It was the only thing he could really see other than darkness, and for that he was grateful. He put his hand against the wall and used it to feel his way to that spot, sitting down just under the window and allowing himself to be bathed in it. He sighed deeply as the shaking stopped._

_An idea came to him then, an idea so reckless that under normal circumstances he would instantly shy away from it. But tonight he felt daring and he had been in his prison for far too long. He stood up as though in a trance, balled up his fist and struck out at the window; shattering it instantly. Blood seeped out of several deep nicks in his knuckles, but he didn't care. He was numb to the pain._

_He knocked the glass out of the frame; knowing and not caring that there would be hell for him to pay later. All that mattered now was getting out, breathing fresh air for the first time in what seemed like forever. He gripped the edge of the frame tightly and heaved himself out onto the grass outside, breathing heavily with excitement. _

_He slowly stood up on weak legs and surveyed the Sakura grove around him, fully intending to take advantage of this one small chance. He might never get an opportunity like this again; his father would be watching him much more closely once he found out about this. But he didn't care right now. The only thing that mattered was the fact that for the moment, he was out._

_He brushed the blonde hair that hung carelessly around his face away from his verdant green eyes, wanting to make certain that his vision wasn't obscured by anything as he aimlessly wandered around the grove, wanting to engrave everything in his memories forever. He wasn't aware that he wasn't alone until he was only a short distance from a dark pair- a man and a woman- under one of the trees, embracing._

_He scowled slightly at the sight. He couldn't catch any of their emotions from this distance, but he begrudged them nonetheless. In a strange way, he was happy that they had someone -something that he had never had- but he also felt a small pang of jealousy at their happiness. He could only hope that they realized how lucky they were to have a person that actually gave a damn about them._

_He was just about to turn and leave before he caught a wave of emotion from the pair, catching his unguarded mind off-balance. He stumbled a little before catching himself; head throbbing in an instant migraine as he hastily threw up a shoddily-made mental barrier. _

_Stunned by the unexpected pain, he looked up in time to see the man, gripping the young woman with one arm, threw his other arm up into the air. As it arched down, he saw a flash of silver and realized in shock that the man held a knife in his hand. 'No!' His mind screamed out in shocked disbelief as the knife buried itself in the woman's chest._

_Blood spurted, and all he could see was red. The moon burned crimson in the sky, so different from the silver orb that had given him such comfort only minutes before. His mind reverted to basic instinct at such an unnatural change. He wanted to run, needed to run, but his legs were frozen, even when the murderer turned, dropping the woman as he focused on the boy standing not so far away, and he caught a glimpse of silver hair and eyes. _

'_Run...' The man took a step toward him. 'Run...' He dimly heard a door slam open. **'Run!'** He heard a vicious crash that broke through his thoughts, before everything turned into a crimson haze._

Hisoka Kurosaki jerked awake thoroughly drenched through with sweat as he tumbled out of bed and onto the floor, gasping as blood trickled down his brow. The nightmare had left him completely disorientated, and he found that his heart was beating rapidly and he was gasping frantically for breath.

"_What hit me?"_ He thought inwardly as he jerkily stood on his shaky knees and stumbled into the bathroom to take a look at himself in the mirror.

He pushed his bangs back and probed the small cut just above his brow as his breathing slowly returned to normal. The cut quickly healed quickly and in mere seconds he was staring at smooth, unmarked ivory skin. Hisoka sighed deeply as he went back to his bedroom and sat down. "What caused all this?"

It was hard to tell. His room was a wreck: books strewn around, random objects off the shelves thrown on the floor. He was honestly shocked at the state of his normally tidy room, but this hadn't been the first time this had happened to him. He was naturally a bit of a neat freak, keeping his room free of all but the bare necessities, so he quickly picked things up and returned them to their proper places.

Hisoka sighed as he sat back down and looked at the only thing that had remained untouched in the room; a picture of him and his immature partner, Asato Tsuzuki. It was a picture taken from a year previously while they had both been at work. Hisoka was shouting in surprise as he tried to balance a stack of books when Tsuzuki randomly tackled him in an effort to help Saya and Yuma, the department heads from Hokkaido, get a good picture of the two of them.

Hisoka dug around in his twisted and sweat-soaked sheets for a few more minutes before he finally succeeded in finding the culprit; a small brass screw. He picked it up and looked at the blood and small amount of ripped skin on it, scratching the side of his head in puzzlement. "How'd this get here?"

The door creaked ominously, interrupting his thoughts. (1) Hisoka turned and noticed to his dismay that it was trapped in the wall, the brass knob buried in the plaster. He heaved, finally succeeding in pulling the door back out, grumbling as he thought of how he would have to fix the wall. A hinge caught his eye, nearly hanging off of the door since it was missing a screw. He bent down and slid the screw into the hole; it fit perfectly. Was he really that surprised?

"Ok, this night is just getting weird." Hisoka groaned to himself. "How did this happen and why is my wall now busted?" He reached out to grip the door, but his breath halted as his empathy surged to the front of his mind, allowing him to pick up a clairvoyant flash.

He saw that he was looking at himself a few minutes before. His clairvoyant self was thrashing on the bed, trapped in his nightmares as the door slammed open on its own in a surge of vicious energy, a screw flying clean out and hitting him on the brow. Hisoka realized that he was lucky the screw hadn't killed him, before remembering that he was already dead and normal accident held virtually no threat to him anymore.

Hisoka backed up, tripping on the leg of his oversized pajamas, and leaned against the wall behind him for support. The room, only moments before warm and comforting, was now cold and chilly. Hisoka felt the blood drain from his face as his nightmare came back to him, along with its ominous command: 'Run.'

"It couldn't be…" He muttered to himself as he stared at the door. Slowly, as if still unsure of himself, he reached out a hand and used it as a focus to do the same with his empathy. He slowly forced the emotions he always tried not to reveal on the door.

It slammed shut instantly. (2)

He stood there for a few minutes as the reality of it hit him full force. He thought of his room, completely wrecked after his much-more-vicious-than-normal nightmares, and the injury he had received as a result. If he could hurt _himself_ through his nightmares, what could he unintentionally do to someone else?

Hisoka's mind whirled at a maddening pace at the thought of everyone at the Summons Department; Tatsumi, Watari, Wakaba, Terazuma, the Gushoushin twins, and most especially Tsuzuki. He could hurt them, without even knowing what he was doing…

"It's time to move on…" And those five words hurt more than anything else he had ever had to endure.

Morning dawned bright and cheery at the Summons Department of the Judgment Bureau, but Hisoka Kurosaki was nowhere to be found.

_Author's Notes_

(1). Cliched much? I think I've watched too many horror movies...

(2). Ok, I have no idea if Hisoka would actually be able to have a power like that, but do you remember back in Volume 1/ Episode 2 where Hisoka created that psychic blast and repelled Tsuzuki? I was kinda thinking something along the lines of that, just without the flashy light effects.

I know it's short, but it is only the prologue, right? Next chappie will be longer, plus that'll give me time to buff it up a bit, so bear with me ok?


	2. Chapter One

Well, it took me a while, but chapter one is here! Well, technically, its chapter two, but the first one was a prologue. I was planning on getting it up Tuesday the 5th, but I got sick at the last minute and my mom wouldn't log me on to the computer. (They have a lock on it.)

And thank you to everyone who reviewed the prologue! I have about 100 hits for this fanfic so far. Now if only I could have 100 reviews. -hinthint- So without further rambling, here is Once Bitten, chapter one!

* * *

Chapter One

_Five Years Later_

They had probably stopped looking for him a long time ago. Sure, Shinigami were immortal and Tsuzuki was a lot more tenacious that anyone else he had ever met, but even he probably would have stopped after this long.

This was what Hisoka had come to realize as he got out of bed on Friday morning, glaring angrily at the curse marks marring his normally pale skin as he threw on a dark blue t-shirt trimmed with at the sleeves with yellow and a pair of blue jeans to get ready for work.

Under normal circumstances he would have worn a long-sleeve shirt with his curse marks openly exposed like this, but his nightmares had been nightly occurrences for nearly five years now and everyone at his job thought that they were just tattoos. Besides, his lower arms from his wrists to his elbows were wrapped with bandages, so they weren't as easy to see.

Even now, when the curse faded away after a couple of hours, no one stopped and shouted "He's not human!" Sure, when they asked him how he had done it, he still answered "Magic," in a sarcastic tone, but they never took it seriously, chalking up the curse mark's disappearance to simple sleight of hand.

Hisoka glanced at the mirror. As usual, his hair was a wreck. He hadn't cut it in… great, he couldn't even remember the last time he had taken a pair of shears to the ash-blonde mess that now hung to his shoulders.(1) He didn't have any time these days to worry about miniscule things like that, so he simply tied it back into a thin braid at the nape of his neck.

He quickly ate a light breakfast consisting of a bagel and a glass of orange juice before walking out of his apartment building and onto the streets, heading for the back alleys that were not very far away. Suspicious looking men in trench-coats, drug addicts, and slutty-looking whores abounded, but he ignored them all as he continued on his way.

One woman in particular, dressed in a black mini-skirt, white spaghetti-strap shirt and black vest stepped forward as he passed. "Hey kid, bitchin' tattoos." Her tone was a little more than "friendly". Hisoka stopped and shot her "the look"- a stare of pure malevolence that had never failed to send humans scurrying. In the five years he had been away from the Judgment Bureau, he had managed to evolve this look from the death glares he had been so good at.(2) Her eyes widened, she stumbled back, and she ran off. Hisoka hadn't said a thing.

Hisoka continued on his way, still ignoring anyone and anything in his way. _'Like I care about them.'_ He had learned by now how to drown out the thoughts he heard coming from other people, subconsciously shifting through the unimportant things to what he needed: which was a fancy was of saying that most of the time he didn't hear anything.

However, it seemed today that something concerned him. He stopped beside a trashcan and looked out of the corner of his eye to see a group of punks lounging against a warehouse, smoking cigarettes. He could hear the rusty cogs of their minds working as they sized him up to see if he was a suitable victim or if he had enough money worth stealing.

Hisoka turned and stared at them with unblinking emerald eyes, simmering with a cold ferocity none of them had ever seen before. All fight immediately drained out of the gang, though they tried to disguise it by joking about how he "wasn't worth their time" and "wouldn't put up much of a fight anyway." But they all had seen it, and their best instincts told them that he was not to be messed with.

Hisoka smirked, amused, and continued on his way.

* * *

Typical days. Normal, average days at the Judgment Bureau. 

These were the kind of days that seemed to go in and out with little indication that they had occurred at all. As usual, there were pay dockings from a certain tightfisted secretary. As usual, around ten am there was an explosion from down the hall caused by a certain blonde scientist. There was the usual argument between rivals. There was the usual whining about not having enough sweets.

Yet, it all seemed hopelessly empty. No longer were there the usual squeals from two girls trying to dress someone up like girl. There were no longer the occasional groans from headaches. There were no longer any shouts of "Lazy baka!" from down the hall, no longer any slaps on the head or threats of violence.

There was no longer any Hisoka Kurosaki.

Of course, everyone tried to mask it, but even their best efforts did nothing to disguise the fact that things were different. The air around the Summons Department and its shinigami was more sullen; each shinigami seeming more wrapped up in their own thoughts as the days passed. The usual routine was only continued because it felt normal, and no one was willing to change it.

But the hole in their hearts and minds were still there. Things couldn't possibly be normal, not without Hisoka.

That was the conclusion that Asato Tsuzuki found himself facing as he shuffled the papers on his desk and began filing them away. It was here that his penchant for being considered an idiot came in handy. Everyone thought that he was being tricked by their charade, not expecting him to figure it out.

They weren't fooling anyone, not even Tsuzuki.

It was a painful sight, having to watch the other shinigami like this. Tsuzuki hardly even came to the office that often anymore, just to avoid the sight of their imitation of normalcy.

Just to avoid all the pain. It was painful to watch the Gushoushin cataloguing the library, knowing that Hisoka wasn't there. It didn't help that they let him come in whenever he wanted, even though they had banned Tsuzuki for repeated destruction of the library. It was painful to watch the twins checking for who had overdue books, only to come to the name "Kurosaki, Hisoka" on the list and fall silent.

It was painful to see Tatsumi checking the accounts, happy that the Bureau's spending wasn't in the red this week, only to remember that the reason that they had more money was because a certain shinigami wasn't there to collect his salary. Tatsumi's face would show nothing, but Tsuzuki knew he was hurting too.

It was painful to see Wakaba's smiles fading, knowing that her marvelous cooking skills wouldn't fix this problem. It was painful to watch Terazuma pull a cigarette out of his pack, only to pull out another only five minutes later. It was painful to see Watari isolating himself in his lab for longer and longer periods of time, to the dismay of 003 and the other birds.

It was painful to see all the unshed tears.

And Tsuzuki was tired of seeing it all. It was time for him to start what he considered his "real" job more and more these days. Sighing, he finished his filing and teleported to the living realm.

* * *

The Inferno was unlikely to win any awards. Any drunk that somehow managed to locate it in its obscure downtown back alley would think twice about going inside after looking at the warning sign clapped on its door: "Go home, take a dump, and sleep it off." 

But, of course, those that could handle themselves could brave the vicious management, down a few beers, and maybe even scarf down a meal at the bar if you were exceptionally daring. Low prices and late hours kept the customers coming; constant brawls and the occasional gunshot from the bar's manager, Dante, sent them out.

The Inferno was not for the faint of heart.(3)

* * *

"Hey, Hisoka, get over here!" Dante, the manager of the Inferno shouted as he scrubbed the countertop, his customary scowl on his face. The place was already jumping today, loud rock music or heavy metal blaring out of the speakers. He knew that anyone showing up after sunrise was usually good for nothing. Hell, most of the customers in general were good for nothing, but that wasn't the point. 

Hisoka groaned and shuffled over to the counter. "Man, I thought I was going to be able to size up the crowd before you put me to work. You're a slave driver." He didn't usually talk that much, but considering the face that he had to be sociable on at least a small level (and that the man he was talking to was his boss) was the only reason that he bothered to even open his mouth.

"Whatever." Dante slid a mug of amber-colored beer made from cheap, rotting hops over to the teenager, who grabbed it in his hand without missing a single beat. "You see that dumbass wearing the fancy-looking tuxedo in the back?"

Hisoka shot a glance at the man in question, an "interesting" (A.K.A stupid) character with slicked-back, greasy black hair and wearing a white sequined tuxedo, black shoes and stuck out like a sore thumb. "Yeah. That guy's just asking for trouble."

"Well, he's the one that ordered this. Get to work."

"Yeah, yeah." Hisoka muttered as he pushed his way through the crowd and tables packed with people, beer mug balanced expertly on the tray that he held one-handed. He weaved through the crowd with the skill of practice, moving the tray out of the paths of arms and shoulders and never spilling a drop.

The man in the tuxedo glanced up in surprise as Hisoka slammed the beer down on the table, causing it to splash just a little onto the tablecloth. His lips curled up in distaste at the sight of the beer and its teenaged waiter. "I didn't order that."

Hisoka ignored the comment. "Yeah, you did."

"No, I didn't. I ordered the best drink in the house."

Hisoka sighed. It looked like this guy had ignored the warning sign out front completely and by the looks of his attire, he was right. "That _is_ the best drink in the house. Enjoy."

He watched as the man picked up the drink and was about to turn away, when he slung his drink right in Hisoka's face.

Hisoka resisted the urge to hiss, wiping the beer from his stinging eyes. The bar had gone strangely silent all of a sudden (excluding the music) as all eyes turned to Hisoka and Tuxedo-dude. Dante, sensing a confrontation brewing, put his hand under the counter to grip his peacemaker- a double-barrel rifle. No one messed up the Inferno, not on his watch.

Hisoka's hair was drenched, and had the sour smell of cheap alcohol clinging to it, but at least he could see again.

He resisted the strong urge to launch himself at the man, instead reaching out and wrapping the tablecloth in his fist. He jerked it out; causing the half-empty empty glass to crash to the ground, making everyone wince as the sharp sound cut through the silence and the nearest people got sprayed by the remaining alcohol. Hisoka wiped his face on the tablecloth and turned away.

"Thanks for the beer. It was good, better than what you deserve." It was a bluff on his part; his alcohol tolerance was at a ridiculous all-time low.

"Why you-" Hisoka froze as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Acting on pure instinct, he grabbed the arm attached and heaved, flipping the man over his shoulder and onto a nearby (and luckily empty) table, breaking it in half right down the middle. Years of martial arts and working in the Inferno came in handy.

Tuxedo-dude picked himself up, rubbing his injured back, and looked at the teenager glaring viciously down at him, and the crowd of angry people surrounding them.

"Get out. _Now_." Hisoka hissed in a low, demonic tone as he shot him "the look".

He obeyed.

* * *

Almost everyone had stopped looking for Hisoka long ago. After six months of almost ceaseless effort, everyone else had given up on finding the sixteen-year old immortal and headed back to their own areas. They had things to do, cases to solve. 

Now, four and a half years after the others had given up, Asato Tsuzuki was the only one left.

It was times like this that being the head Shinigami of Kyushu, the least busy district in all of Meifu, came in handy. He hardly ever had any cases, so he could continue his search without any interruptions once they were completed in a day or so.

But still, even though afterwards he restarted immediately, Tsuzuki still harshly berated himself for losing even the smallest amount of time. He couldn't help but think of his partner alone in a city somewhere, possibly hurt, and an image of Muraki often leapt unbidden into his thoughts.

A city would have been the only place where Hisoka could have kept anyone from finding him. But Tsuzuki knew from experience that even a city couldn't stop their favorite doctor, if he set his mind to things. Kyoto had been five and a half years ago, but Hisoka had been absolutely certain that Muraki still lived, and Tsuzuki had learned to trust his partner's instincts.

So now Tsuzuki was combing through all the cities in Kyushu, desperately hoping to find his partner before the good doctor did.

He was wandering the downtown back alleys of one such city in Kyushu, a city known as Hyuga.(4) It was a Friday in summer, so it was hot and he had to walk instead of run to avoid getting heat-stroke. For the hundredth time he berated himself for dressing in his customary black trench coat. He really needed to wear something other than black.

Tsuzuki's stomach growled, distracting him from his search. He groaned inwardly. At other times he would have goofed off (especially during paperwork back at the office) but now he found himself hating every moment that he was distracted from his search. When had that happened? He reflected silently on his partner.

Hisoka had been the only person who had stuck with him. Tsuzuki supposed that it sounded ungrateful, especially to everyone at the Shokan Division, but he couldn't help if it was true. Others had left him because they couldn't deal with his emotional and psychological problems, still others because of his "lazy baka" routine.

It was ironic how the only one who could stand his emotional problems was the one person who shouldn't have been able to deal with it to begin with; an empath. And if he was being particularly lazy, Hisoka either forced him into work or did it himself. The boy had stuck with him, and ended up being the only partner that Tsuzuki had ever had for more than a few months.

Of course, it hadn't started out that way. In fact, the first time he and Hisoka had met, it had been with Tsuzuki on the wrong end of a gun in the hand of a pissed off empath; definitely _not_ the start of a partnership made in Heaven. In fact, Hisoka had first struck Tsuzuki as an aggressive brat that was pissed off at the world for no good reason.

But as he got to know Hisoka better, he learned just how wrong his first impression had really been. Hisoka wasn't really mad at the world; he was cold, withdrawn from everyone else and avoiding them as much as physically possible. The false anger was just a mask he used to disguise when he was in pain, or uncertain of himself. As an empath forced to feel the emotions of those around him, this wasn't much of a surprise.

But now Tsuzuki had to deal with an emotionally withdrawn empathic brat.

And then he had found out about the boy's childhood, and everything suddenly made sense to him.

Hisoka wasn't naturally aggressive; rather his aggression was really just a front that he used to hide his pain, pain stemming from his abuse at the hands of his parents. It was that pain that had made him distrust everyone, most of all himself.

Coupled with his death; being cursed to die slowly and in complete agony over a three-year period after being raped at age thirteen (by a certain insane doctor), that pain inflicted upon him had shaped Hisoka into who he was now.

It was a pain that had stuck with him, even in death.

Tsuzuki decided that, since it was only mid-day and he had the rest of the day to search for his partner, he could afford to take a break for lunch. Provided, most of the places around here were bars that looked less than sanitary, but he felt sure that he could get a decent meal somewhere.

So he started searching, and it wasn't long before he had found the Inferno.

* * *

"Hey, Hisoka, there's a guy in the back left corner who walked in just a few minutes ago. Can you go and find out what he wants?" Dante tapped the teen on the shoulder, getting his attention without having to shout above the pounding music. 

Hisoka glanced up from where he had been moving a new table and chairs to the spot where he had broken the other set. It would have been a lot easier if he had been allowed to wait until when the bar had cleared out, but Dante had made it clear that he had pushed his luck enough already and that if he kept it up the money would be going out of his paycheck (which was even smaller than what he had been paid at the Judgment Bureau).

He might even lose his job, and there were few places around here that would employ an immortal that looked like a sixteen-year-old.

"Sure. Back left corner, right?" Hisoka wiped the sweat from his brow as he gave the table a final kick into position. He didn't build muscle very well, and although he was somewhat more muscular than he had been five years ago it was still a lot of hard work for him.

He headed off in the general direction Dante had given him, while the manager returned to wiping his beloved mahogany counter. The music was pumping, and he soon recognized the song "Bent" by Matchbox 20. Hisoka scowled angrily. He had never heard a song that characterized him better than that particular one, which only intensified his dislike for it.(5)

_"If I fall along the way  
Pick me up and dust me off  
And if I get too tired to make it  
Be my breath so I can walk _

If I need some other love  
Give me more than I can stand  
And when my smile gets old and faded  
Wait around I'll smile again

Shouldn't be so complicated  
Just hold me and then  
Just hold me again"

It wasn't so complicated, not really, and Hisoka knew it. The cold, hard truth of the world was that people were too concerned about themselves and what they wanted to give a damn about others. In his entire life- and afterlife –he had only met a handful of people that had cared about him on any level.

And he had been forced to leave them all behind…

Bullshit. No one had forced him to leave. He had done it to himself, and now he had to deal with the consequences himself. To anyone else it would have sounded harsh, but Hisoka wasn't into deluding himself to reality. He had dug his own grave this time, no pun intended.

_"Can you help me I'm bent  
I'm so scared that I'll never  
Get put back together _

You're breaking me in  
And this is how we will end  
With you and me bent

If I couldn't sleep could you sleep  
Could you paint me better off  
Could you sympathize with my needs  
I know you think I need a lot

I started out clean but I'm jaded  
Just phoning it in  
Just breaking the skin"

That was another part that matched him perfectly. He hadn't started out like this, but the long nights he had spent in the darkness during childhood and his death at the hands of Muraki had left him jaded. Cold.

Oh yes, he had seen how bad the world could be. Anything that could go wrong in life would, and that was the way he had seen things for a long time until his meeting with Tsuzuki. And for a short while, he had been able to see the world in a different light. Then he had left, and five years of living in city back alleys among the outcasts and scum of society had reverted his views on the world back into what they had originally been.

But there was more to him than people thought; he really was just breaking the skin there.

Not that anyone around here cared about the person behind the mask. Even Dante, whom he could rely on without any doubt when the manager was in a good humor, had only hired him because he could fight. And that was only after he had seen proof of the teen's prowess, even though Hisoka fought more on the basis that he was more skilled than the typical bar room brawler, instead of being stronger than average.

"_Can you help me I'm bent  
I'm so scared that I'll never  
Get put back together _

You're breaking me in  
And this is how we will end  
With you and me bent

Start bending me  
It's never enough  
I feel all your pieces

Start bending me  
Keep bending me until I'm completely broken in"

The chorus repeated twice, but Hisoka ignored it completely and focused on pushing his way through the crowd, trying to ignore the headache that was slowly creeping its way into his system like an infectious disease. His efforts were cursed at, until whoever he had bumped into turned and recognized him as the waiter who had beaten up the Tuxedo-dude shortly before. After that, he received no opposition.

Finally, the table in question was in sight, and Hisoka's blood ran cold.

It had been five years since Hisoka had last see him. He was still the same, right down to the clothes that he always wore, ebony hair getting in the way of amethyst eyes. He rested his head on one hand as he casually watched the crowd, but his eyes were distant and his mind far away. His black trench coat hung over the back of his chair, but it was present nonetheless.

Asato Tsuzuki was sitting in the Inferno.

* * *

Author's Notes

(1) I don't know why, but the thought of Hisoka with long hair has always made me drool. -drools- A good example of this is panel 1 on page 98 of volume five. Of course, he will get it cut, but for the moment I can have my fun. Btw, I am a girl. Always have been, always will be. Sheesh.

(2) It was bound to happen. You know it was.

(3) The Inferno is fictional and inventions of yours truly, along with Dante and the others. The rest of the characters are Yoko Matsushita's brain-children.

(4) Not sure if this has anything to do with Naruto. And I have no idea what the real Hyuga looks like, as details on the web are sketchy at best. I just took a page out of Chief Konoe's book and threw a dart at a map of Kyushu, so don't take anything written here literally. The city wasn't even supposed to have a name, but I figured it might be a good idea to throw that in.

(5) Just because I put the lyrics in there doesn't make this a songfic. It's a bar, ok? It's going to have music. Plus, I always thought Bent fit Hisoka like a glove, so I decided to add that.

Me: Hmm... -nervous- Ok, Hisoka might have been a little out of character here. But Hisoka is perfectly capable of being a badass, as shown in the final volume of the anime, and his tenacity more than makes up for any physical strength he lacks in. You try getting cut from your shoulder to hip and keep going. It ain't easy.

I just never understood why just because there was a little crying in the Kyoto arc, people automatically think Hisoka is a wimp. You try having the person you care most about try to commit suicide and see if you can keep from crying. I dare you. Plus, Hisoka took kendo and martial arts for years so he-

Muse: He got mad skillz!

Me: Augh! Where'd you come from?

Muse: Blame your mind for interupting your extreme rant.

Me: Anyways, I thought that Hisoka beating up a guy at the bar was not so impossible.

Muse: Why a bar?

Me: Think of the places where people wouldn't care enough to notice how a sixteen year old doesn't age in years.

Muse: Ok...

Me: Then narrow down the available jobs.

Muse: Bar waiter, drug dealer, drug addict, whor-... Oh, I see what you're saying.

Me: Right. Well, I'm gonna try to get Chapter 2 up by next Tuesday. See ya!


	3. Chapter Two

Me: Okey doke, folks! I finally got a chapter up on time!

Muse: -slurring- Took ya..

Me: Oh, and I spiked my Muse's eggnog so he won't be able to be an ass until after New Year's!

Muse: If it didn't hurt so much to walk, I'd kill you. -falls over-

Me: -pokes with toe of boot- Hmm... If I'm lucky he'll stay unconcious for the entire chapter, though I wouldn't count on it. Anyways, I've been backlogged with studying for tests and homework flooding out my ears and into the streets, so I didn't get a chance to answer reviews individually. So, since I'm basically a lazy bastard, I'll answer them on here. Bring on the reviews!

**jennamarie:** Yay! Someone came back! Yeah, originally I came up with the idea for the Inferno from the novelization of the Devil May Cry series, so I figured I'd make a tribute to that and throw in a referance to a classical novel (which I have read, even though I'm not in college) at the same time. I don't know why that amuses me so...

And yes, Hisoka is nice with long hair. -drools-

**laustic:** Thank you. I try hard. And as for the next chapter, well... -shrugs- Here it is. Enjoy.

**ShadowInTheDarkness:** Ah, thanks. Praise is always appreciated.

**maudite:** Whoo-hoo! A new face! -glomps- And finally, someone who agrees with me on Hisoka being able to kick ass (my friends all laugh at me. bastards...) look hot with long hair -drools-, and work in a dive bar and still be canon.

And on the long hair issue, I've decided to be really nice (holidays rubbing off) and let you guys decide whether or not he should cut it. Majority rules. The only reason I really considered cutting it is because to tell you the truth, it was kinda an afterthought. -dodges gunshots- I had written the chapter about a month before I got volume 5 and decided "Hey, Hisoka looks totally hot with long hair! I should totally add that to my fanfic!" And so here we are.

And now that I have finished worshipping my reviewers, without further interuptions, I give you Once Bitten, Chapter Two!

* * *

Chapter Two 

Hisoka slowly backed away into the crowd before Tsuzuki saw him. His mind was awhirl, thoughts racing through his head faster than he could even move. His partner was here. Tsuzuki _couldn't_ find him, not here, not anywhere.

A light bulb exploded above him, showering him with glass, but the noise was lost under the music and the sudden lack of light was attributed to special effects.

It was just like what had happened in his house, and Hisoka knew he had to get Tsuzuki out before his darker and largely uncontrollable powers went crazy and wrecked the entire bar.

Somehow, he made it back to the counter in a deep daze, over to where Dante was. The Inferno's manager stopped what he was doing immediately, as soon as he saw how much paler than usual Hisoka was. The boy slowly fumbled with the words that he needed to say, but hurt so bad.

"Dante, that guy has to go."

Dante's eyes narrowed. Most people would have taken Hisoka's warnings for granted, but he had learned by now not to. The boy was known for being able to sense trouble. The first time Hisoka had warned him about a customer like this, he had blown it off completely, attributing the boy's intuition to jittery nerves and restlessness.

The customer in question had attempted an armed robbery of the Inferno, and would have gotten away with a lot of money if Hisoka hadn't hit him in the head with a wooden chair.(1)

"Is there going to be trouble because of him?" Dante asked as he unobtrusively slid a hand under the bar to rest on his rifle.

Hisoka shook his head as he once again fumbled for words. He could feel Dante's intentions, but he didn't want Tsuzuki physically hurt, just out of the bar, and far away from him. "No, but he has to go. _Now_."

Dante nodded his agreement as he reached for a small hand radio he kept on the counter. He clicked it on, though he could barely hear over the music that the bar patrons came for. "Hey, you wastes of space, get your asses to the back left corner. Hisoka's spotted some trouble." (2)

Hisoka nodded his head tiredly as two of the Inferno's other workers, Sora and Chrono, quickly confirmed Dante's request via radio and signed off. His head was pounding and he was very tired, especially after narrowly avoiding an outburst right in front of every human in the bar.

Dante looked over at his employee in concern. "You ok?"

Hisoka sighed, but moved his head up and down out of pure stubbornness as the day's weariness caught up with him and he pulled up at chair at the bar. Dante handed him a cup of water, which he quickly gulped down. He hadn't felt this drained in a while. "Yeah, I'm fine."

* * *

Tsuzuki glanced up in surprise as a huge hand clamped down on his shoulder, distracting him from watching the crowd. He had been almost certain that he had sensed something, but whatever it was had left as abruptly as it had come. His amethyst eyes blinked in surprise as he looked up to see two huge bald waiters (who kinda reminded him of the guards on the Queen Camellia, when he thought about it) glaring down at him. (3)

The one who had gotten his attention pushed a pair of black glasses back up to the ridge of his nose, before sticking a thumb at the entrance to the bar. "You have to go, bud. It's under manager's orders."

Tsuzuki made a sour face, as though offended by the remark. "Why do I-"

Three seconds later he was tossed head-first into the street.

Dazed and slightly confused, Tsuzuki lay in the street for a moment and stared up at the sky. "Such a peaceful sky…" He thought as a few clouds rolled lazily by. A few people stared at him as they walked by, and he jumped up quickly and retreated to an alley beside the Inferno.

Tsuzuki rubbed his face, where a large bump was disappearing quickly thanks to his regenerative capabilities, something that automatically came with the Shinigami package. "What was that all about?" He wondered, before a voice to his left cut off his thoughts.

"You got kicked out too, huh?"

Tsuzuki jumped in surprise and turned to see a man in a black tuxedo with greasy black hair hanging around his collar lounging against the opposite wall a few feet down, feet swung over a trash can lying on its side. "Yes." (4)

The man yawned and arched his back, wincing at the action. It was obvious that his back was in a lot of pain. Tsuzuki once again thanked the gods that he didn't have to stay in physical pain for long. Mental pain, however, was another story. "So, why did you get kicked out, or do they just do it to random people?"

"Oh, I got into a fight with one of the waiters." The man said, shrugging as if that were a normal occurrence to him, even though by his physical condition that probably wasn't true.

"You should watch out for him. He's a little punk, about yay high," Tuxedo-guy continued as he held his hand to around his chin to emphasize his point. "And he has long blonde hair and these really freaky green eyes. It was weird; when he was glaring at me it was like he saw everything about me."

The man stopped talking right about then. Tsuzuki had frozen upon hearing the waiter's description, amethyst eyes focusing on Tuxedo-dude's face with alarming intensity as they darkened. It was obvious that his description had struck a bell with the shinigami. "Can you tell me anything else about him?"

* * *

"Be careful on your way home, Hisoka. That punk may still be hanging around," Dante called from the counter as his employee walked out the door, head hunched forward as usual and the markings on his upper arms glittering faintly in the dying sun.

As usual, his words fell on deaf ears; Hisoka being too preoccupied in his own thoughts to notice anything said to him.

It was chilly for a warm day in June, and most of the people had gone inside bars and where it was warmer, except for those with less than savory occupations, but Hisoka tended not to think of that. He was no stranger to the darker side of humanity, but even he had more self-respect than to end up taking one of _those_ jobs.(5)

Not that he was trying to fool himself. In a sense, he wasn't so different from anyone else on those streets. He had fallen so far in such a short time, all to avoid his own fears of his powers and to seek a place to live where people asked no questions.

This was the place where those fallen from the grace of society went, and the blonde shinigami had found no difficulties blending in, as long as he moved every two or so years to avoid suspicion. Even in this place, people asked questions as to how a sixteen-year old boy could not age in several years. Superstition ruled with so many mercenaries and other unsavory characters around, and he had gotten sick enough of being considered a monster in childhood. Never again.

A light wind kicked up, blowing bit of trash and paper through the streets. Hisoka whistled a quiet tune that echoed through the streets as he passed by, hands in the pocket of his jeans. He wanted to get home soon; he hated cold. And besides, it was so _quiet_.

It was too bad he couldn't teleport. He had gone to special precautions to make certain that he remained undiscovered in this town. Shinigami could follow the tendrils of magical energy, so he had been careful not to teleport or do anything that could draw attention to himself. He could still use his telepathic skills, but that was only because no one at the Judgment Bureau knew about that side of his abilities.

Too quiet for his tastes; he was so used to the daytime hustle and bustle of city life that the silence was eerily unnerving.

Hisoka reached his apartment building soon. Not wanting to go through the front door and face the other irritating tenants bound to be there, he hauled himself up the rusted fire escape to his door on the fifth floor. He flicked his wrist at the locked door; it swung wide open. The blonde empath grinned tiredly. While his telepathic skills were still unruly, he had managed to make at least that much progress in his five year absence.

He walked into the dark apartment, closing the door behind him. His heart skipped a beat for a moment in the dark, but he mainly ignored his fears and focused on getting to the light switch without tripping over anything. The lights came on and Hisoka breathed in silent relief. All memories and insecurity had vanished with the darkness.

After relocking the door, Hisoka settled onto the couch and switched on the TV.

He didn't watch it much, but when he did, he found himself wallowing in the dregs of the broadcasting network, flicking past educational shows and high-grade dramas to tabloids and talk-shows.

Why? He guessed it was because it reassured him that there were people in the world worse off than he was. No matter what went wrong in Hisoka's day, he could turn on the TV, watch some moron telling his wife and the world that he's sleeping with her daughter (6), and say to himself "Well, at least I'm better than that." Trash television as reaffirmation therapy. You gotta love it.

When he got tired of talk-shows and had switched off the TV, Hisoka headed for the bedroom, intending to shower away his worries as usual, before a knock on the door stopped him. He sighed. It was probably one of the more annoying tenants. His shower would have to wait for a while. At least long enough for him to answer the door and slam it back again.

Yet, as he neared the door, Hisoka froze as familiar emotions flooded his senses. Emotions that he hadn't felt for several years now… _No way. It can't be him. He shouldn't be here!_

He opened the door, bracing himself for disappointment, only to be met by a pair of amethyst eyes framed by ebony hair. The emotions he sensed were confused, torn between happiness and anger into an incomprehensible mess. Hisoka couldn't blame him.

Hisoka swallowed, before backing out of the doorway and turning his back to Tsuzuki, not wanting him to see the massive battle for control that was going on behind his eyes. "So, I guess you're here to take me back to the Judgment Bureau?"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

1. Hee hee hee, that was just too amusing to not put in.

2. Holy crap, this sounds like a lot of the conversations I have with my muse!

3. Strictly manga version, since Yoko Matsushita described the guards as "Triplets? -sweat drop-"

4. Tuxedo Man returns! -fanfare- Ah, who am I kidding? This'll be the last time he graces my fanfic with his presence. And I do stress the term "graces".

5. Do I need to spell this one out? Use your imagination.

6. Sickos...

Me: Gaspeth! A cliffhanger! -fangirls scream in pain- And you wanna know the worst news? I probably won't be able to update over Winter Break because I have to spend time with the family I hardly ever see. -screams escalate- And because I want to try to crank out a few chapters to keep ahead of the updates.

Muse: That and I'll probably be sick since this dipshit poisoned me!

Me: It wasn't poison.

Muse: Then what was it?

Me: I don't know. The box had a skull and crossbones on it, but I'm not sure what it was. Potassium something... I'm a little fuzzy on the details.

Muse: -keels over-

Me: -sighs- Looks like I've got to take him to the hospital. You would think by now that he would realize that anytime I'm nice to him I'm bound to be up to something. Well, Merry Christmas to all!

Muse: And to all, shut the hell up.

Me: -kicks in stomach- Oh, will you look at that, you're more ill than you thought. I'd better get you to the ER. Well, no matter what you celebrate, have a merry Christmas! See ya next time! -drags muse off by ankles-


	4. Chapter Three

Okey doke, people. I'm back from my vacation! -applause- I would have updated yesterday, but my mother grounded me from the computer. However, she did let me on the computer to do some research for Debate Class, so I was able to spend a minute or two saving my document to my account. So now I'm at school chugging coffee and hoping to stay warm.

I must warn you ahead of time: I have no idea how good I am at angst, so this chapter may not live up to expectations. Eh heh... Please don't hurt me. Anyways, on with the chapter!

* * *

Chapter Three

There was an awkward silence as Hisoka sat down at the table, back facing Tsuzuki. "Well, out with it."

Tsuzuki glanced around the room, just trying to avoid having to look directly at his partner. Hisoka's apartment was small, with a couch against a wall by the window, a wooden kitchen table next to the kitchen itself, with little more than a stove and a refrigerator, and two more doors. He assumed one led to Hisoka's bedroom while the other was a guest room. "What are you talking about?"

"Please, Tsuzuki. I'm an empath. You may think that you've got your shields up strong and that I can't sense anything, but I can and I know you've got questions. Out with it."

Tsuzuki looked around a moment longer as Hisoka turned around to look at him. "There's no one else here?"

Hisoka snorted. "No, why?"

Tsuzuki's eyes hardened and Hisoka caught a feeling of hurt and betrayal. "Cut the crap, Hisoka. I saw the door open on its own. Who else is here?"

Hisoka felt his temper rising, though in the back of his mind he knew it was unfair since Tsuzuki didn't even know why he had left, much less about his powers. "No one. It's just you and me."

"You're lying." The comment had a hint of anger in it, and Hisoka felt his hands clench as his own temper flared. "I saw it with my own eyes, Hisoka."

"Yeah, you'd know a lot about that, wouldn't you, Tsuzuki? You'd know that there's nothing strange that happens in the world and everything is always how you perceive it." Hisoka was struggling to keep his temper in check.

"Then what else could there be, Hisoka? Some automatic door opening system? Because in this part of town, and judging from the place you're living in, I'd say that's highly unlikely." Tsuzuki's hand slammed down on the table, causing Hisoka to jump in surprise, but he kept his gaze squarely level with Tsuzuki's. "Who have you been staying with all this time Hisoka? I never would have thought it of you, but I guess I was wrong."

"You bastard!" Hisoka's control finally snapped. "For your information,_ buddy_, I don't like mortals and I would never have a human for a housemate, especially considering how much I'd have to explain the first time I get an injury and it heals in seconds! I thought you knew me better than that!"

"People change, Hisoka."

"Yeah, well my opinion of mortals is about as likely to change as your sweet tooth! Do you really want to know why I left? Do you?"

Hisoka flung his hand out, and one of the chairs levitated in the air and did a flip before he lost control and it landed hard on the floor, splintering. Hisoka moved his hand again: a cup sitting on the table flew into his hand with so much force that the water literally jumped out of it before he slammed it back down on the table. A pillow from the couch assaulted Tsuzuki, beating him over the head ferociously.

Tsuzuki held his hand up to shield himself, but the bashing didn't stop.

"You are so stupid! I can't believe you would ask me that! I have been busting my ass trying to blend in among humans in the scum of the city so that I can get a handle on this power for five years now! I can't believe I left because I was worried I might hurt someone, since this wonderful power is charged by emotions! At least if you had gotten hit in the head by a flying coffee mug, it might have knocked some sense into your thick skull!"

He nailed him with a final blow upside the head, and then let the pillow fall to the floor. "To think I thought… Oh never mind. To hell with you!"

Hisoka turned and stormed out of the dining room and through one of the two other doors. He slammed the door so hard that it made the windows rattle and shook the glass abandoned on the table.

Tsuzuki stood next to the table completely stunned by what had just happened. Hisoka had moved the objects with his empathy? Was that even possible? And he knew that Hisoka could have hit him a lot harder than just assaulting him with a pillow.

Tsuzuki slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned at his stupidity. He had just succeeded in seriously pissing his partner off. It looked like he had some damage control to do. But to his surprise, a strange warmth had grown in his chest as he realized that the empath had left out of concern for his co-workers and not because of dislike or anything like that.

In all honesty, he was somewhat relieved by the empath's reaction. His outrage had been too great to be feigned. But then he realized that he had probably just pissed Hisoka off enough that the empath might kick him out, and at the worst wouldn't come back to JuOhCho with him.

Nervously, he poked his head through the door Hisoka had disappeared into. To Tsuzuki's surprise, it wasn't a guest room as he had first suspected. The room was filled with work out equipment. A treadmill was against one wall, a weight set against the other. In the center of the room was a mat above which hung a punching bag chained to the ceiling.

It was currently being pounded on by one seriously angry empath.

Hisoka was moving fast, even faster than Tsuzuki had seen him move with a sword. Left jab, right hook, all passed by in a flurry as sweat poured in droplets down the empath's face. Tsuzuki noticed that Hisoka hadn't bothered with putting on gloves, and his knuckles were red.

Hisoka had changed into a sleeveless white shirt while Tsuzuki had been in the other room, and the purple-eyed shinigami noticed that his curse marks were burning all along his arms, except from his wrists to below his elbows, where bandages were wrapped tightly, something Tsuzuki had seen before in people who had to fight a lot. He wasn't sure if it was needed or just a tough fashion statement, but it was obvious that Hisoka didn't mind them.

He gave the punching bag one last vicious kick that made Tsuzuki wince. It was obvious that Hisoka was trained just as well in fighting with his hands as with a sword. Hisoka looked at him as he grabbed a towel off the corner of the mat and glared. "What?"

Tsuzuki flinched at the angry tone while Hisoka toweled his sweat-drenched hair dry and hung the towel around his neck before turning to walk towards the treadmill. He messed with the control on it, before sighing tiredly. "Stupid key. I can never find it when I need it."

He made to walk past Tsuzuki, but the other shinigami's hand darted out to catch his arm. Hisoka flinched and started to put up his mental shields, before realizing tiredly that his empathy wasn't working because he was so exhausted. His curse marks flickered slightly as they faded away.

His mind felt fuzzy and was spinning slightly; probably a result of getting hardly any sleep at night and the fact that he had probably just sweated out most of the water in his body.

"I'm sorry." Was that Tsuzuki talking so low? He could hardly hear anymore. He was so tired…

"It's no problem…"

"Yes, it is!" Hisoka raised his head to look into a pair of amethyst eyes. His exhaustion was visibly showing now, and Tsuzuki looked tired too. How long had he been out looking for Hisoka, or had he just found him by dumb luck? Tsuzuki took a deep, shuddering breath as he continued.

"I shouldn't have been so mad at you, but I was so tired. I know it's an excuse, but I've been looking for you for so long and I had thought you might be in trouble or something… Then I find you here in this city, and at first it seems like you didn't care at all."

"How _did_ you find me?"

"I got a tip from a guy you beat up at the… Inferno, yeah, the Inferno. You'd know him by the greasy black hair and tuxedo."

"Oh yeah, him. He slung his beer in my face."

"Yeah, well I waited on top of a nearby building until you got off of work and… I kinda followed you back. I know it seems like I was stalking you, but I didn't want to run the risk of you detecting me through your empathy." Tsuzuki looked a little sheepish as he said this.

Hisoka sighed. "I'm tired, Tsuzuki. I'm tired of beating people up for a living, I'm tired of living like this, and I'm even tired of having to get myself out of bed and walk down that street every single day. I just want to go home…"

His plight was tugging at Tsuzuki's heart strings. As he had suspected, his first impression was wrong. He put his hands on the youth's shoulders. "One more question, ok Hisoka? Then I'll take you home to Meifu."

"What 'tis it?"

"Why did you leave?"

"Didn't wanna hurt anyone… can't control it… tired…" Hisoka leaned forward and shut his eyes as he rested his forehead against Tsuzuki's shoulder. He dimly heard Tsuzuki's voice as his mind drifted out of focus, but when he opened his eyes again he realized he was in his house, in his room, and he rubbed his eyes when he realized that everything was the same as it had been five years previously.

He stumbled forward and plopped down on the bed without much ceremony and curled up in a ball. He dimly heard Tsuzuki chuckle as the older shinigami grabbed a blanket from the closet and placed it over him, not wanting to have to move his partner now that Hisoka was comfortably positioned on top of the bed. Hisoka realized dimly that he was unaccustomed to such kindness after five years away, before he remembered that Tsuzuki was always like that.

"Welcome back, Hisoka. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

Eh heh heh... Please, no author abuse. This wasn't exactly my best chapter, but you can understand Tsuzuki jumping to conclusions. His emotions were a little thin after looking for Hisoka for five years. And Hisoka would probably be pissed if Tsuzuki rounded on him so... yeah. This wasn't one of my better chapters, but like I said in the summary, the real action is going to happen after Hisoka returns to work, so I kinda needed a conveniant excuse to get him back and this was the best I could come up with.

Anyways, no author's notes in this chapter, because there wasn't much to talk about. This one was pretty straight-forward. But it's about five minutes from the start of school, so I'm gonna post this and be on my way. See you guys (those that are left) in the next chapter!


	5. Chapter Four

Finally! A day that I can update on time! -looks around suspiciously.- Something bad is going to happen, isn't it? Anyways, the muse is currently in a comatose like sleeping state after too many New Year's and Christmas parties. I may have to take him to the hospital, if I remember. Anyways, here are the shout outs from the last chapter. (I forgot to put them down on the last one. Bad Chrono!)

To **laustic**, **CrazyYnMLoverxD**, **Kaouri18**, and **Sasskitten**: Thank you all very much! I guess I don't have to tell you all this, but the new chapter is up (duh) and I look forward to your reviews. Hope you like it!

To **jennamarie**: I thought that the situation was way too serious so I thought to myself: "Hmm, what's the one thing Hisoka can beat Tsuzuki with that'll make everything funny?" and the Muse commented that it should be a pillow, so I totally went with it.

As for Hisoka's powers going nuts while he was sleeping... Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. Must incoporate into storyline. Unfortunately, the chapters that I have gotten finished haven't exactly had a chance for the flaunting of supernatural abilities, but I will get to that. I love to show off strong characters too much to _not_ do that. So be patient, you'll get that one.

And how the other shinigami will react... Well, you'll have to wait for this and the next two chapters to find that out. After that, that's when things start to pick up. Plus, there will be an unexpected move involved... But you'll find out about that later. -listens to the collective shrieks of fangirls- I'm glad you'll be here for the long haul, and I look forward to your review.

To **ShadowInTheDarknes**: No problem. I love reviews, and I have no problem giving you guys the heads-up if you don't find out about new chapters on your own. You guys are what keep me going, and since you are all looking forward to a new chapter, I drag my lazy butt out of bed and slog through the day to get to you.

And I agree with you, Hisoka needs a hug. In about... one or two chapters, you'll be getting that. The next few chapters entail Hisoka's return to the Judgement Bureau, so I didn't have much time for mushy stuff. As for the second comment... well, I'll be getting around to that too. Be patient. I need a little time to pull the two together and time to arrange the chaos of the deadly "totally cliched return case that you will find out about later". Things take time, and it looks like this one will have a LOT of chapters. Of course, I couldn't be happier, but with you guys it may be a different story.

And now that Hisoka is back, all of you will get to see what happens. Also, this chapter is kinda special. It was supposed to be divided into two chapters, but as a special treat I combined two of them. Makes things move faster, you know? So without further adieu, here's chapter four!

* * *

Chapter Four

Hisoka was a little nervous. The silence of the house had woken him up the next morning. He'd become accustomed to waking to the sounds of the city, cursing the sounds of traffic with enough ferocity to make a sailor turn green with envy.

Consequently, when he woke up in the morning, he had jumped out of bed half expecting that the world had ended, then nearly freaked out when he realized that he was back in his old room and had ran into the wall when he had jumped out of bed.

Then he had remembered the events of the previous day. Even though his memory was a little hazy, the results were basically the same. He was back at Meifu, and would probably be heading to work since Tsuzuki would make certain that he didn't leave and could now track his telepathic powers as well as his regular magic.

He couldn't say he was relieved at the prospect.

Hisoka padded across the cold hardwood floor to the closet, which was basically filled with nothing but jeans and long and short sleeved shirts. He shrugged into a pair of jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. He hadn't particularly cared what he had worn in the mortal world because no one else had, but he wore the shirt so that no one would ask stupid questions about the bandages or his curse marks should they decide to flare up.

He had never blabbed to any of the shinigami about his rape, and he wasn't intending to. And although he had a bit of a suspicion that Tsuzuki knew something, he had figured that Tsuzuki only knew of how Muraki had killed and cursed him. Still, he had often noticed that the elder shinigami did seem a little overprotective of him.

Too lazy to comb his hair, he raked his fingers through it to get rid of the bed head, tied it back in a loose ponytail, and hurriedly brushed his teeth before stopping in the doorway. As Tsuzuki's deep snores radiated out from the guest bedroom, he felt a little tension ease out of him. Waking him was one problem he could avoid this morning.

He slipped out into the hall and past his closed door. With uncanny abruptness, the snores stopped. Cursing under his breath Hisoka hurried down the first few stairs. Tsuzuki's door creaked open, followed by the padding of bare feet on hardwood. _Don't stop_, he warned himself, _and don't turn around_. Then he stopped and, of course, turned around.

Tsuzuki stood at the top of the stairs looking exhausted enough to tumble down them at the slightest touch. His black hair was an unruly mess, rumbled and plastered down by sweaty sleep and his amethyst eyes were half lidded, struggling to focus. He was dressed only in a pair of black silk pajama pants decorated with the kanji for "slacker" that Hisoka had bought him as a joke at Christmas one year. With a yawn, he stretched and rolled his shoulders, rippling muscles down his chest as Hisoka caught a few blurred memories from him.

"You have a rough night guarding my escape routes?" Hisoka asked, raising an eyebrow at his partner.

Tsuzuki only shrugged. It appeared that he had busied himself the previous night guarding Hisoka's possible escape venues should he regain consciousness and decide to leave again. As if Hisoka would ever be cowardly enough to sneak off into the night, especially considering he had been so tired he could barely move! Ok, he had done it before, but that wasn't the point.

"How 'bout some company for breakfast?" Tsuzuki asked.

"No."

There was another drowsy shrug of his shoulders. Let a few more hours pass and he'd never take that rebuff without a fight. Hell, in a few hours he wouldn't even bother _asking_ if he could join Hisoka. The empath started back down the stairs. He got exactly three steps before Tsuzuki jolted awake, trotted down the stairs after him, and grabbed his elbow.

"Let me get your breakfast," he said. "I'll meet you in the dining room. I want to talk to you."

"I don't feel like talking, Tsuzuki." Now that he was rested, Hisoka wasn't even sure he had wanted to come back to the Judgment Bureau to begin with. He didn't want to deal with annoying questions, and though that sounded really ungrateful, he was a lot harder than before after being away so long.

"Give me five minutes."

Before Hisoka could answer, he'd jogged up the stairs and vanished into the guest room. Hisoka would have gone after him, but that would have meant following him into the guest room reserved for Tsuzuki, and considering his partner's cleanliness habits, that was definitely not a good idea.

As Hisoka padded into his kitchen, he was expecting a horrible mess of spoiled food and dust. It seemed that his bedroom wasn't the only place unchanged: the kitchen was stocked with some of his favorite foods, and there wasn't a speck of dust to be found.

"I see you've been keeping yourself busy." He said as he sensed Tsuzuki standing behind him in the doorway.

His partner shrugged. "I figured that you'd be mad at me if you came back to a kitchen filled with rotten food. So I kept it clean when I wasn't busy looking for you, so your house would be livable when you came back."

_You didn't even know if I was coming back,_ Hisoka thought with a little ray of warmth as he walked through the door to the dining room and sat down with a bowl of chopped fruit and a cup of coffee in front of him. His five years away had done nothing to help with his sweet tooth, which Tsuzuki had undoubtedly expected. Speaking of which…

Hisoka raised an eyebrow as he saw a large bag of assorted sweets on top of the fridge. "Let me guess: trying to keep Konoe from finding your stash, so it's taken up residence at my house?"

Tsuzuki didn't reply as his arm reached over Hisoka's shoulder, snatched up a slice of banana, and downed it in one gulp. When Hisoka glared at him, he only gave him a disarming "just trying to help" shrug. His fingers darted out to grab another slice of banana out of Hisoka's bowl. Grabbing his fork, the empath slapped the back of his hand hard enough to make his partner yelp.

He then sipped at his coffee and proceeded to ignore him. Tsuzuki turned the chair next to him backwards and straddled it, now dressed in his usual work attire of a white shirt, black pants, and a matching tie.

The quiet might have lasted longer if the doorbell hadn't shattered the silence. Tsuzuki ran to answer it, and then came back with Yutaka Watari, Meifu's resident mad scientist, with 003 on his shoulder. He was talking to Tsuzuki and for the moment hadn't noticed the house's other occupant.

"So anyways, Tsuzuki, I really think you need a break from your "Hisoka" hunting. Take a little vacation, get some sun-" He froze and stared between Tsuzuki and Hisoka, the latter sitting at the table with a fork sticking out of his mouth and the former grinning like an idiot.

There was a long silence. The blonde scientist was so surprised that he took off his glasses and wiped them clean before he spoke. "Bon, you're back… WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

Hisoka yelped in surprise as said blonde scientist tackled him, sending him flying clean out of his chair as Watari gripped him in a bear hug that left him breathless as his ribs were pressed.

"Do you have any idea how much everyone has been missing you? You have to tell me everything that's happened to you! Oh, and I have to do some tests to make sure you're really Hisoka and not some weird pod person!"

"Uh, Watari, if you keep it up Hisoka may not live long enough for those tests," Tsuzuki said. He was standing to the side watching the spectacle with his arms folded and a big grin on his face. Watari grinned back at him before releasing Hisoka, who sank to the floor and rubbed his aching ribs. He glared at Tsuzuki, who was once again trying to eat his food, before smacking him in the back of the head.

"Keep your fingers out of my bowl." He said, pointing to the fridge. "Your food is in there. There should be enough for both of you."

003 was the first to fly through the door. When Watari went to follow, Tsuzuki grabbed his arm. He didn't say a word. He didn't need to. Watari nodded and went to fill two plates of whatever suited him and Tsuzuki, while Tsuzuki took the seat next to Hisoka.

"Bully," the empath muttered darkly.

Watari came back into the room with a plate piled so high with pre-made pancakes that Hisoka expected them to slide off any moment, especially since he was only holding it (and the empty plate below it, presumably for Tsuzuki,) in one hand. The other was busily forking a pancake into his mouth. He dropped the empty plate in front of Tsuzuki, filled it up with three pancakes, and allowed the other shinigami to dig in. Hisoka sat and ate his bowl in silence.

Finally, uncomfortable with the silence, Watari leaned back in his chair and sighed as he rubbed his temples. "Tatsumi's gonna be pissed, you know. I hope you have a lot of money on you, Bon, because I can see a pay docking in your immediate future."

"I'm well aware of that." The empath replied from across the table. Sighing, he stood up and cleared the table. "Might as well get over it. It's time to go to work."

* * *

The ministry office hadn't changed much. Not that Hisoka would have expected it, seeing as how everyone there resided in the netherworld and dead people aren't renowned for change. It still disturbed him a little, though. Almost like he hadn't left at all…

Watari and Tsuzuki were behind him, no doubt to make certain he wouldn't turn tail at the last minute, both chattering amiably, something about pie… Hisoka let their words go in one ear and out the other, passing through as white noise. His entire attention was on the confrontation ahead.

Now that he was back, odds were that everyone would probably being asking him questions such as what he had been doing for the last five years; questions he had no intention or desire to answer. He was still a little nervous about his own emotions. If they got a little out of control, who knew what his powers could lead to? He shook his head fiercely, reminding himself not to think about it.

Not to mention that his empathy had made a surprising come-back since his arrival home. Back in the mortal realm it had been on standby: shifting through emotions and little blurbs of thought seamlessly like a well-tuned machine. But for once he was actually paying attention to it, and the amount of work it required after so long nearly made him nauseous.

They managed to make it to the office he shared with Tsuzuki without any problems. The hallways were deserted. Watari had caused this personally by running madly through the halls screaming that he had a new potion and required a guinea pig. He claimed that it was true, but Hisoka could tell that Watari had done it to give the empath a little closure before everyone figured out that he was back. He was grateful for it.

He took a seat down in his office chair and propped his feet on the corner of his desk before folding his arms behind his head, something that would have been very out of character for him five years ago. This was made painfully obvious as Tsuzuki did a double-take, blinking with a concerned expression on his face.

"You okay?" He asked, blinking his amethyst eyes owlishly.

"I'm fine." Hisoka replied tersely before eye-balling a stack of paper on his desk. "You sure no one knew I was coming back? Because those papers state otherwise. Unless the "paperwork monster" decided to take a crap on my desk."

Tsuzuki blinked in surprise, before he burst out laughing. It seemed Hisoka still was still as verbally blunt as ever. Some things hadn't changed. The mirth died out a moment before Tsuzuki replied back.

"Actually, um… that's all my work." This time it was Hisoka who blinked in surprise before his partner shrugged his shoulders and continued. "I kinda got into the habit of working at your desk. Mine is flooded with mismatched papers and stuff, and made it hard to clear my head, so I usually did my work over there."

"I see." The empath replied coolly as his emerald-eyed gaze shifted to the work. "You spelled "incapacitated" wrong."

"I did?" Tsuzuki walked over to stand beside him and gaze down at the word Hisoka was indicating. "Well, I guess I did." He gave a little laugh.

Hisoka groaned. "Baka. Try spelling big words right the next time you decide to use them."

They were interrupted as the door swung open, accompanied by a chorus of fangirl shrieks. Hisoka turned pale. "Oh man…"

The next instant he was tackled by at least two hundred pounds of Saya and Yuma, each having grabbed him around the neck with a grip that any construction worker would be proud of. The room was soon filled with screams of "Hisoka's back! Hisoka's back!" as the girls jumped up and down with glee, dragging the poor empath into the air with them.

"Well, if no one knew you were back before, they probably do now." Tsuzuki said, standing to the side as he shook his head at his partner's predicament.

"Tell me about it." Hisoka groaned.

* * *

The day had barely begun, and yet already Tatsumi was sensing something amiss.

First of all, Watari had run through the halls screaming about a new potion, when as far as Tatsumi could tell he had actually gone home that night and therefore had no time to create a new concoction/bane-of-his-co-workers'-existence.

The second was that Tsuzuki was acting a little more hyper than usual. But not the "I'm-trying-not-to-act-sad hyper", more like the "I'm-dying-trying-to-keep-this-secret-from-you" hyper. He hadn't even gone to the vending machines for a sugary snack yet!

Plus, he wasn't following his usual trend of heading out to look for Hisoka for the first time in five years. And he wasn't letting anyone near his office, which was unusual in itself, but Watari was helping him, and they both acted with the overzealous attitudes of two bodyguards protecting a president, or a king.

And Tatsumi was determined to get to the bottom of it, one way or another.

* * *

"Do you really think we should be doing this? I mean, everyone is bound to get suspicious eventually. They'll find out sooner or later." Hisoka stated bluntly. He was in the same position he had been when he had first walked into the office, except that he had finished up the rest of Tsuzuki's paperwork an hour or so previously. Saya and Yuma were sitting off to the side in the "Harpy Zone" since Hisoka had gotten tired of them trying to glomp him constantly. Luckily, they were both being relatively quiet. 

"Well, it is your first day back, and emotions are bound to be high. I just don't want you to get overwhelmed." Tsuzuki replied from where he was eating a large slice of double chocolate cake. He had taken a break from guard duty while Watari caused mayhem on the residents of Meifu in his stead.

Hisoka frowned sourly. "I'm not gonna get "overwhelmed", Tsuzuki. I can handle other people's emotions just fine."

"Not according to your dizzy spell before Saya and Yuma were banished to the "Harpy Zone"." Tsuzuki pointed out, gesturing toward his partner with his fork. Hisoka blanched in surprise. He wasn't sure which annoyed him more; the fact that his partner had just trumped him, or the fact that he was actually right for once.

"Yeah, 'Soka," Saya replied cheerfully before Yuma finished the comment for her. "We wouldn't want you passing out on your first day back. You know, we should celebrate this occasion. We got a new Pink House catalogue and-"

The words were interrupted by Hisoka throwing projectiles their way and causing quite a bit of noise while he was at it. The result: the two girls and Tsuzuki, who somehow got in the way, ending up with red handprints on their faces.

They would have gotten worse, but Hisoka wasn't a big enough dirt bag to punch a girl. If he did that, he would never stop getting hell from the other shinigami, and besides, he was still too proud. That was his Kurosaki side coming out in him, that irritating connection to his family that refused to die.

"Well, I'll be damned." A rough voice said in the doorway.

Hisoka whirled to see Hajime Terazuma and Kannuki Wakaba, the resident shinigami of Chuugoku. Terazuma's trademark cigarette was drooping out of his mouth, and his ebony-black hair just barely covered his pointed ears, while Wakaba was bright and sunny as usual. "So you're really back, kid."

"That's good! We were all really worried! I'll have to make a cake to celebrate." Wakaba put in, smiling at Hisoka.

"Tatsumi will have an ulcer when he realizes you're back at work." Terazuma muttered with sadistic glee as he started to head out the door.

"Terazuma! Don't tell!" Saya and Yuma nearly tackled Terazuma, who was forced to duck behind Wakaba and use her as a very unfortunate human shield, though he was careful to avoid contact with her as well as with Saya and Yuma. The room was now filled with Wakaba's screams of "Hajime!" while Terazuma used his "if they touch me, I'll transform!" excuse.

Watari moved sheepishly from behind them, twiddling his thumbs as Tsuzuki glared at him. "Sorry… they sorta made me let them in…"

"We all know we can't rely on Watari when the going gets rough." Hisoka said from the desk.

Tsuzuki tried in vain to get the others to quiet down, but to no avail. It was only when Hisoka threatened to not only touch Terazuma (thus causing a transformation), and leave for Chijou once again did the room go still. Terazuma let Wakaba down and approached the desk as he let a new cigarette and looked the empath over. "Damn, kid. What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" Hisoka asked as he raised an eyebrow at the older Shinigami, while his mind did a flip-flop. _Damn. Can he tell?_

"Your aura, you chi, is a lot fiercer than it used to be. Plus, even while sitting, you've got the kind of posture that reminds me the most of a resting tiger, that kind of "I'm-resting-but-if-you-get-close-I'll-rip-your-arm-off" feeling." Terazuma walked around Hisoka's chair in a circle, careful not to get too close.

"Now let's take a look at some of the other facts I've noticed. You're doing your damned hardest to mask your aura, which is a good try even though it still manages to bleed through with your best efforts. I find this interesting; especially since five years ago your best efforts masked your aura with little difficulty. That means that you got a wicked power boost while your weren't here."

Tsuzuki breathed in sharply as he realized that Terazuma was right. Hisoka's aura _was_ stronger.

Terazuma continued his summation.

"You're not wearing gloves, and I can see the new scars on your hands plain as day, which means either you've reverted to masochism and have been punching a brick wall 24/7 for the last five years, or you've been doing some serious fighting, since shinigami healing skills would normally take care of that. Not to mention that you carry yourself someone used to being feared or ignored, even when you try to act like nothing's changed about you. Anyone with an ounce of perception isn't fooled by the tough way you stand."

"Your hair is longer, which is something I'm familiar with myself. You typically see it in people that are workaholics and have no time to worry about hair. Plus, you've got split ends, which means you haven't exactly been taking good care of it. And we all know that before you left, not only did you take good care of your hair, but you actually cut it regularly."

"Not to mention, behind those eyes, I can tell that you're both happy and worried about being back here. I think that you're happy to be back where people except you, but you're worried about something, and it's not about you because like that idiot baka Tsuzuki over there, you don't care about yourself. So I pose to you this question: what is it?" Terazuma fixed Hisoka in a steady gaze as he twirled his cigarette between his thumb and index finger

Hisoka gave Terazuma a peeved glare. "What are you, freakin' Sherlock Holmes?"

Terazuma grinned. "Well, I was a detective in life. I just don't take as long to get to the truth."

"Very funny."

Terazuma paused and took a long drag of his cigarette. "Warped humor aside, you didn't answer my question. Why are you so worried about coming back?"

Hisoka closed one eye, though the other watched the elder shinigami warily. "Not telling. It's none of your business anyway."

Tsuzuki winced, knowing that a Terazuma rant was on its way. The Chuugoku Shinigami was not known for any patience.

However, Tsuzuki was surprised when Terazuma turned away from Hisoka and walked toward his desk. "Whatever. Your life in the past five years is your own business, though I expect that Tatsumi will want an explanation when he realizes that you're back."

Subtly, Terazuma moved his hand until it came into contact with Tsuzuki's empty coffee cup. "What are you-" Tsuzuki realized what he was up to in a flash, but it was too late. Terazuma whirled and let the cup fly, right toward Hisoka!

In a split-second, Hisoka's hand came up. The cup remained suspended in the air a foot away from his face.

There was an audible gasp from everyone except Tsuzuki and Terazuma, since Tsuzuki already knew of Hisoka's new ability and Terazuma had obviously anticipated this. Hisoka slid his legs off the desk and snagged the cup out of the air, before slamming it onto the desk, hard. Everyone winced at the sudden sound, the only indication of how furious the emerald-eyed empath was. As usual, Hisoka's face betrayed nothing.

A moment passed, and then another, before Saya and Yuma broke the silence. "Hisoka, what's that thing coming out of your sleeve?"

Hisoka glanced down to see an unraveled bit of bandage peeking out from under his right shirt sleeve. The top of it was white, but the bottom was stained with crimson. _Damn!_

"Hisoka?"

Hisoka jerked his head up to find Tsuzuki looming over him. The overprotective feelings he sometimes felt from his partner were surging and making him feel uncomfortable. "What? It's nothing." He rolled his sleeve up and rewrapped the loose bandage, ignoring the stares coming from his co-workers.

"Bon, did you hurt your arm or something?" Watari asked skittishly, sensing the empath's irritability rising rapidly.

Hisoka growled angrily as he glared at the others. "I'm fine, okay? I just got used to wearing bandages so I wouldn't have to explain to some curious mortal why it is I can heal only seconds after getting a cut! My arms get banged up a lot, okay?!'

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room as Hisoka finished his one-shot tirade.

Tsuzuki was the one to break the silence. "Then why are you so upset if you aren't hurt?"

Hisoka sucked in his breath sharply as he realized that Tsuzuki was right. "I told you, its none of your business."

"Yes, but why you have been gone for five years and skipped work is _my_ business, Kurosaki."

Hisoka sighed tiredly as he heard the icy voice coming from the doorway. "Hi, Tatsumi."

* * *

Well, there ya go. Two chapters in one conveniant package! It was either that, or the next one would be too short, and I wanted to cut down on too many chapters so I could hold you guys's attention, so here you have it. Plus, I couldn't resist putting Tsuzuki in there shirtless... -drools- Now that I think about that, I wonder why I didn't make Hisoka freak about that... Too late. And even Hisoka has to admit that the idea of shirtless Tsuzuki is totally hot... 

So, I have to go. I look forward to reviews. See ya!


	6. Chapter Five

AUGH! -runs this way and that trying to get things done- Ok, you could say this is a very special update, mainly because I'm having an extreme panic attack right now. I aked my mom why there were two letters from my school in the mail (because nothing good ever comes from there) and she said that she's going to talk to me about it when she gets home. I went downstairs and rooted through the mail, and it seems that I have an F in algebra even with tutoring, and mostly Ds and Cs. So I'm kinda in deep water here.

Plus it doesn't help that when I talked to my Mom over the phone before we hung up, she asked me (not in the same words) if I was going to kill myself while they were gone. I recently went through a period of suicidal thoughts that I am now going to therapy for, but why does everyone always assume that every little kick is going to make me go emo and slit my wrists?! I want to get past this, but if everyone keeps thinking I'm a loose cannon, it's only going to get worse. And even though she said it was an honest fear, it only makes me feel worse for scaring her in the first place.

So yeah, there probably won't be an update until I get myself out of that Hell called bad grades. Plus, I think it kinda sucks that the next couple of years of my life have to be so freakin' serious, because they're going to define the rest of my life, when all I really want to do is enjoy the little time I have left. Great, not I'm making myself sad again...

Anyways, here's chapter five.

* * *

Chapter Five

Hisoka was annoyed as hell. He had been served a huge lecture, rant, and a stern talking-to all rolled up into one convenient little package. Tatsumi had chewed his _ass_ back in the office. And Hisoka had to go and see Chief Konoe now that Tatsumi was through with him.

Tsuzuki wasn't even allowed to go with him. Not that Hisoka felt that he necessarily needed his partner for his meeting with the Chief, but the elder shinigami's overbearing presence was oddly relaxing to him. As much as he told himself that he didn't need his partner, Hisoka couldn't help but feel a little down.

Hisoka supposed that he should be grateful that Tsuzuki was the one who usually got in trouble, and that he himself had a relatively clean record with Konoe. He made an effort to keep somewhat easy relationships with his fellow shinigami (excluding Saya, Yuma, and Terazuma since he hated Tsuzuki and generally avoided Hisoka). Those relationships were nothing that you'd call close, but were still comfortable.

He pulled up before the door to the chief's office and took a deep breath, knocking before going in. The room was occupied by a pair of comfortable brown couches and plants were everywhere.

The Chief looked up from his desk as Hisoka shut the door quietly behind himself. "Well, I'll be damned. And here I thought that Watari was just causing up trouble again. Welcome back, Kurosaki."

Hisoka stopped in front of the desk and managed a nod of his head. "It's good to be back, Sir."

There was silence for a moment. "Where have you been?"

"Hyuga, in Kyushu."

"Have you been well?"

"Unfortunately, not really."

"That's a damn shame."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

Silence descended again. _Well, what did you expect?_ Hisoka thought to himself. _I mean, you leave for five years and then show up again out of the freakin' blue! Of course it's going to be difficult to hold a conversation with someone who hasn't even heard from you in half a decade!_

"You know, we all missed you, Tsuzuki most of all. Sit down."

"Huh?" Hisoka snapped out of his silent reverie and took a seat on the couch.

"It's true. You'd be surprised. We were all complete wrecks. It wasn't as bad as if someone passed on to Heaven, but it was still pretty bad. I nearly got sick of leaving my office seeing the way everyone was."

"It was that bad?"

"Oh yeah. Tsuzuki was the worst. He hardly ever went by the office anymore; he was too busy out looking for you. I would have to call him on his cell phone in the field if he had a case that needed solving. It's kind of sad, really; he finished all of his cases in record time, but then he went back to searching."

_I didn't think he would miss me that much._ Hisoka realized with sickening clarity. _I was too afraid of hurting them with my powers to realize how much I was hurting them with my absence._

Konoe stopped and rubbed his temples. "I… don't know what to say… Damnit, Kurosaki, what happened?"

Hisoka looked away, ashamed of himself. "I was afraid… afraid of hurting everyone."

"How?" Konoe's expression was puzzled.

Hisoka slowly reached out with his mind, making the box of sweets on Konoe's desk slide across the desk, before launching a chocolate into the air and into his outstretched hand. Konoe's jaw dropped. Hisoka could feel surprise emanating from him, and it was making his head hurt.

A knock at the door distracted them both. "Come in." Konoe called.

The door opened, and Tsuzuki walked in. Contrary to his usual cheerful expressions, his face was dead serious. He walked across the room and sat down on the couch next to his partner, folding his legs and remaining silent, as if daring either Konoe or Hisoka to protest.

Hisoka thought about chewing him out, but the look in his partner's amethyst eyes was able to melt all protest from him in an instant, so he made himself comfortable, tension easing out of his shoulders as he slumped slightly in his seat. Tsuzuki smiled at his partner's reaction and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. Hisoka closed his eyes and relaxed against the back of the couch. His mind wandered a little, and he lost touch with reality for a moment…

"Ahem." Hisoka was jerked out of his daydreaming by Konoe clearing his throat impatiently. "What is the nature of your… power, Kurosaki?"

Hisoka gulped uncomfortably as he shifted in his seat. "Emotional."

Tsuzuki inhaled sharply, and Hisoka gently probed his mind, though he pulled out quickly as he felt both shock and worry, which made him a little happy that Tsuzuki had his barriers particularly high today. Konoe's frown deepened. "How did you first figure it out?"

"Well, the night that I left, I had a nightmare, the kind that scares the crap out of you. Unfortunately for me, I had a very rude awakening: in the form of a screw nailing me right in the noggin'." Hisoka tapped his head right above the brow. "Unfortunately, considering that I wasn't even consciously directing my powers, it left little to the imagination of what I could do without intending it."

"Do you have anymore control than you did back then?"

"A little." Hisoka's frown creased as he opened his hand, which still had the chocolate in it, made the sweet spin around the couch a few times, and returned it to the box of Konoe's desk. However, about halfway in the air, it faltered and bounced off the desk. "It's… stubborn. Not as hard to control as my empathy, but challenging in its own unique way."

"Stubborn, huh? Kinda like you." Tsuzuki said with a smile. Hisoka turned glared at him.

Konoe stood up and walked to the door. "That will be all."

"That's it?" Hisoka jumped over the back of the couch and balked in surprise. "Why are you letting me go, Chief?"

"Well, I've heard your explanation, I know you're an honest person, and more importantly, you've already had your ass ripped by Tatsumi, and that's more than enough for a lifetime, let alone a day. I want you to take the rest of the day off before officially returning to work." Konoe smiled. "Good to have you back, Kurosaki."

He left the room, and Hisoka turned to Tsuzuki, who was grinning at him from the back of the couch, where he had his head resting on his arms. "What do you want?"

"Nothin'." Tsuzuki replied nonchalantly as he stood up and folded his arms behind his head. Seeing Hisoka's resulting pout, he grinned. "What do I usually want? You, me, and a restaurant for tea. Now."

* * *

So, now that that's over, I would like to express my undying loyalty to my reviewers. Once I get past my problems, I will be back. Nobody can make me stay away for long. Oh, and I'm kinda on borrowed time here, so I didn't have time for any shout-outs. I'll put them in once I get back. Love ya guys! See ya!


	7. Chapter Six

Ok doke,I have an anouncement to make. Apparently, I am grounded from the computer and everything else until I get two reportrs with straight Bs. (Excluding math, I can get a C in that.) All I have left is Tv, and I think my mom only let me keep that to get me out of her hair. However, since I have to use the computer for school, I will try to update whenever I can, though I don't think my lead will last for long. On with the chapter!

* * *

Chapter Six

A week or so passed, and Hisoka found himself falling back into the routine of life at the Judgment Bureau. Of course, Tatsumi was pissed since the Bureau's spending was back in the red, but the aura around the office was a lot more upbeat than when he had first come back. The very mortar of the buildings had reeked of depression.

It had taken him a week or so to work out the paperwork with the apartment heads at his home in Hyuga, and another day or so to get all of the stuff that he wanted out of the apartment, which wasn't much other than his exercise equipment. Oh well.

At least his house wasn't as empty as it had been before. Hell, he finally had a use for the empty room downstairs. He still kept to the bare necessities, but it felt a little more lived in now. A little warmer.

And of course, Hisoka had been dodging questions for a week, ones that he had no intention of answering. He had always been pretty secretive (or at least everyone thought so), but he wasn't exactly proud of the fact that he had been working in a dive bar for the last five years, eking out a living among the darker side of humanity.

However, after spending enough time there, it didn't seem so dark to him. Sure, there were those less than savory characters- whores, drug-dealers, mercenaries and the like- but there were those few people who were actually nice, who had just fallen into this side of the world. People like Dante.

Dante had told Hisoka once that he had originally wanted to be a doctor, but he had inherited the bar from one of his relatives. He stayed because he made good money, plus he worked his own hours and could drink as much as he wanted. Good thing too, since doctors- and hospitals- tended to creep Hisoka out.

Oh well. It looked like he wouldn't be going back to that life, since everyone knew about his powers and could track him. Plus, Tsuzuki was stuck to his side like a bur everyday, making certain that he wouldn't try anything like that ever again.

Not that he wanted to. Though he hated to admit it, Hisoka was oddly at ease with the world. He was still a lot more withdrawn and standoffish than he had been before he had left, but he was more relaxed, no longer as feral. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

It was also during this time that he found out that Tsuzuki was ending up sharing Hisoka's house with him.

Hisoka hadn't intended it, but Tatsumi had commanded that Tsuzuki live with Hisoka since he could no longer afford to keep paying for his own apartment. Hisoka had initially been extremely pissed at this, but had relented to his fate when he saw how cheerful Tsuzuki was about things.

And though he would never admit it, it was sorta reassuring to be housemates with the amethyst eyed shinigami, to know that if he ever needed help, Tsuzuki was sleeping just down the hall from him. Hisoka didn't know why he would need help, but he still felt that way, especially at night when his memories stirred and the curse marks flared on his skin, reminding him of that night. Haunting him…

* * *

_Cold hands pushing him on the ground, scraping along his chest and leaving marks like bird talons. His hands were bound to a tree root above him; he couldn't move. He couldn't run. He was trapped. All he could do was scream._

_The presence above him did nothing to stop his frantic yells, in fact, he seemed to enjoy it. He could feel the sick emotions radiating off of this being, his shields were gone and his empathy was open, every emotion so intense that it brought him as much pain mentally as he was receiving physically. _

_He was practically begging for release, to be let go- whether by escape or death he wasn't sure- but all he knew was that he had to get out. Adrenaline, fueled by panic, was pumping through his body, but it did little good thanks to his binds. That and the fact that the man above him was strong, stronger than any thirteen year old._

_And then a blade was being scraped along his skin, leaving wounds that soon turned to a burning mark, embedded deep in his being, in his very soul. A hand was on his throat, choking him. He couldn't scream, couldn't breathe, and all he could taste was blood and bile as he struggled for air…_

Hisoka snapped awake, drenched in sweat, and nearly screamed in panic when he realized the hand he had felt was still there. He closed his eyes and lashed out with his left leg, hearing a grunt when he felt his leg impacting into another body, before opening his eyes a little unsurely to see concerned amethyst eyes in front of him. The hand on his throat was still there, but lightly pressing under his jaw.

"Your pulse is racing." Tsuzuki whispered quietly.

Hisoka panted as the dream-induced adrenaline rush dissipated, and he lowered his eyes. "I'm fine."

"Bullshit." That was pretty harsh coming from Tsuzuki, but Hisoka could tell that it wasn't directed at him, more like Tsuzuki was just frustrated as he reached out and tilted his partner's head back so that Hisoka would look at him. "I'm not stupid, Hisoka. You don't sleep often, and when you do you have nightmares."

When Hisoka didn't answer, he sighed tiredly. "Was it Muraki?"

Hisoka's head jerked up, before he remembered that Tsuzuki only knew that Muraki had killed him, not what else the man in white had done to him, the source of the recurring nightmares that made him snap awake, curse marks burning on his skin.

Speaking of which… Hisoka winced slightly as he felt the blood-born markings burn on his chest, as if thinking about them was their cue to start hurting like a total bitch. "Yeah, but I'll be fine, like I said."

"Ok then. Do you want me to leave?" Tsuzuki's tone was casual, but Hisoka could tell that he was guilt-tripping himself and his feelings of uncertainty were raging. _Stop worrying about it, you idiot! It's not your fault, it never has been, and I'm sick of you and everyone else walking on eggshells around me._

Hisoka made a show of yawning and stretching his back, glancing at the clock to see what time it was. Six o' clock in the morning, just the right time for him. "Nah, I don't feel like going back to sleep. Might as well go ahead and start my day."

Tsuzuki was silent for a moment, and Hisoka was kinda getting unnerved by that. Then, with little empathetic warning, Tsuzuki leaned forward and caught the blonde up in a tight hug, making Hisoka blink in surprise as his breath caught. Tsuzuki's feelings were reassuring, and Hisoka could tell that they were meant to be comforting.

Almost as soon as it started, the moment ended. Tsuzuki released Hisoka before he could have time to freak out and before bad memories of Muraki began to surface, almost as if he knew. But he couldn't… It was a logical impossibility. Hisoka was pretty sure that Muraki would never tell anyone about his carnal crimes, and Hisoka himself wasn't talking.

Tsuzuki stood up from where he had been sitting on the bed and flashed his partner a hesitant smile. "Ok then. Well, I'm going back to sleep. See you in a few hours, Hisoka." He left the room and closed the door behind him.

After he was gone, Hisoka sat on the bed and pondered what had happened just moments before. _What the heck was that?

* * *

_

Tsuzuki sighed as he left Hisoka's room. He was angry, but not at Hisoka, but at the bastards in his life that had made him so distrustful. Tsuzuki knew that it wasn't just Muraki, but his parents as well, and no matter how many times he told Hisoka that he was human, it never seemed to sink in for the empath.

It felt like a twisted joke to him. No matter how much they tried to tell one another that they were human, neither of them really believed it. Tsuzuki had often mused that of the two of them, he was the closest to actually being a demon, but it appeared that Hisoka didn't share his views on that.

His fists clenched as he remembered stepping into Hisoka's room, having heard the frantic yells, the cries for help, to be released from the pain he was suffering from in the memory. They chilled his blood, and the worst part of it was to hear how scared Hisoka was, how he begged for death to the demon from his memory just to escape. He denied his fears when he was awake, but in nightmares you can't escape: there's no where to run.

_No wonder he doesn't like the Sakura, or the darkness. No wonder he's so cold._ Tsuzuki thought sadly to himself. It seemed to him that EnMa must have a very morbid sense of humor to place cherry trees, which symbolized life, in Meifu, the land of the dead. And he knew all too well how much seeing those trees hurt his partner, dredging up dark memories for him and rubbing salt in his wounds every time he came to work.

Tsuzuki laid down on the bed in his room, hearing Hisoka still moving around down the hall. He had felt how hot his partner was, his skin burning, as though someone had trapped a fire within him. He knew that it was Muraki again, and he wanted to kill the man in white for still hurting his partner, even so many years after his death.

They were both contradictions, he realized. Both hanging on to something that they desperately wanted to believe, yet at the end of the day, their hearts told them a different story. Tsuzuki would stick with him forever, even though he knew that Hisoka wasn't even certain that eternity existed. But Tsuzuki would hang on to him harder than anything else, and he'd be damned if he let anyone take Hisoka from him.

He loved the empath. He had realized it shortly after Kyoto, and it was apparent that Hisoka felt the same way; otherwise he wouldn't have leapt into Touda's flames to save Tsuzuki. But Hisoka was also scared. He was too scared to hope, only to be let down again. It was a sad existence for someone who no longer had any hope- the driving force behind humanity- and Tsuzuki was noticing that Hisoka was treading the line of sanity more precariously with each passing day. He had also picked up a cynical streak while in the city and all of the hard work that Tsuzuki had put into changing the empath's views had become unraveled in their five year separation.

Hisoka's thoughts were dark, and were not something to be pried into. That was something that he instinctively felt, but Tsuzuki did it anyway to try to get the empath to open up, knowing that it would probably go a long way to helping repair Hisoka's psyche. Tsuzuki honestly wondered how Hisoka had managed to keep his hold on sanity for so long. But Hisoka would have to resolve his internal conflicts on his own. All he could do was watch over the empath, and catch him if he fell off the edge.

Hopefully he wouldn't be too late.

* * *

Damn, I'm not sure I like that ending. It's too dark for my tastes. That's what I get for reading very dark fanfictions before writing. Don't get me wrong, this fanfic is serious, but that depressed me. Looking at it now, several weeks after writing it, _hurts. _Mayeb someday I'll get off my lazy butt and fix that ending. My Muse is gonna bug me until I do.

Anyways, I put that in the ending because somewhere I read a post that Tsuzuki and Hisoka were "complete opposites, a fangirl's biggest irritation, and only tolerated because their basicaly considered the canon pairing" and it seriously pissed me off. That strikes me as the observation of someone who really knows nothing about YnM, because Tsuzuki and Hisoka actually have a lot in common. They were both alienated as children for something they couldn't help, they both have been tortured by Muraki, and they both wear masks because of their experiences: Tsuzuki with his smile, and Hisoka with his attitude.

Anyways, I gotta go. See you all!


	8. Chapter Seven

Me: Well, I am posting the new chappy (when I should be doing my computer-based homework) and I'm also pleased to anounce the triumphant return of my Muse-

Muse: Shut the hell up before I rip your heart out and eat it!

Me: -who apparently spent all of Christmas and New Year's partying, before passing out in a roadside ditch for ten days before dragging himself home and staying in a two week coma on my bed (during which I was forced to take up residence on the floor). Needless to say, he's very cranky now that he's regained the use of his arms-

Muse: Seriously, shut up before I rip you guts out, throw them in a blender, and feed the remains to three-headed dogs!

Me: -but not the use of his legs, which means I can talk smack about him for a while. -ducks flying bowling ball- And plus, since I have plenty of time right now, I can finally get around to shout outs!

Muse: After three chapters?

Me: Yeah...

To** laustic**, **redharuka96**, and **ShadowInTheDarknes**: Thank you for your comments on the last chapter(s). Plus, I totally agree with you. Hisoka and Tsuzuki are compatible, and they do have a lot in common, though I won't recap what you already know.

To **CrazyYnMLoverxD**: Eh, Hisoka's sanity is kinda up for debate (at least in this fanfic). Personally, I think he's sane, but my muse argues that someone with nightmares as vivid as he has and all of the trauma, he's bound to have a hold on sanity that is tedious at best. It's an argument we have every Sunday night (you know, 'cuz Sundays are boring).

To **Kaouri18 **and** Ryo Yuriko**: Yeah, Tsuzuki's got his work cut out for him in this fanfic. People are adaptable, even dead people, and I kinda wanted to show that with Hisoka, even if he does feel slightly OOC. Plus, I felt like my reviewers needed a treat for sticking with me, so I threw in the hug. (And I've thrown in some Watari this chapter for Ryo) And if you liked that, there's one moment in the next chapter that will be cute and extremely AWESOME at the same time, plus a really cute moment that you guys are sure to love. The bad news? I'm still grounded, so it will be a while before I even update at all! -listens to fangirls screaming in agony-

To **Sasskitten**: I wish I could trade muses with you right now. Ever since mine woke up from that coma, he's been making my life hell. (Muse: Whatever, Dum Dum. Now get me Gum Gum!) -sighs- I liked him better when he was asleep. And before he saw _Night at the Museum_. And Muraki tortures Tsuzuki, Hisoka, and generally everyone he meets, though he seems to prefer Hisoka and Tsuzuki above others. Lucky them. Oh, and the idea of Muraki getting his ass kicked bu Tatsumi makes me smile.

To **Saphira112**: YAY! YOU'RE HERE!!! -tackle-glomps- I saved you for last in my line of shout-outs. And yeah, I totally agree with you. Whoever wrote that knows nothing about YnM. I'm straight (even though I'm a girl) and even I take offense to that! I don't care that they're both guys, YnM has an awesome story, and beautiful characters that speak to me on a very deep emotional level. And he (or she) totally reduced that to a frigid, two-dimensional level. Bastard. And so that I can help you on your rampage, here's how I found that. Simply type in "Tsuzuki and Hisoka" in the google images section, and it comes up on the first page. -puts on glasses- Here, let me read the full quote to you:

"Tsuzuki and Hisoka: Gentle seme and feisty uke. Angsty boy and ditzy man. You're the living embodiment of a cliche. You're cute enough, but you're the kind of pairing that grates on every other pairing's fans' nerves. You're tolerated, though, because you're considered the canon coupling." -whips off glasses that make me look smart- I don't know about you, but that warrants death in my book. Not exactly what I said in the last chapter, but close enough. Yeah, just go to google, and you'll find it. Can't believe someone posted that -bleep-. Even if it's a freakin' quiz result, why the hell do you put it on a quiz when it isn't even true? So head on over to google, Saphira, and take your muse with you. You've both gotta see this shit to believe it. I need my RNH (Rental Ninja Horde).

Anyways, enough of me trying to start riots and general chaos. On with the chapter!

* * *

Chapter Seven

Close to a month passed by. Not much changed for Hisoka, though he was still wondering about that encounter between Tsuzuki and himself. Occasionally, he felt those same protective emotions, warm and comforting, coming from his partner, but as soon as he glanced at Tsuzuki the elder shinigami's shields slammed back up.

Other than that, not much changed between Tsuzuki and Hisoka. Tsuzuki was still the sweet-loving baka that he always was, and Hisoka constantly had to keep him in line. Occasionally, they talked about Kyoto. Tsuzuki said that he was tired of all the sympathetic looks, and that he was ready to move past it: a sign that if Hisoka wanted to talk, he'd be willing to listen.

What Tsuzuki had said was true; he did want to move past his bad memories of Kyoto. He still felt guilty for all of the people that had gotten hurt, but he didn't want to kill himself. Hisoka had taught him that his death wouldn't do anyone good and that he would probably only hurt his friends.

Besides, as long as Hisoka was there, he would stay with him. He knew the empath needed time to sort out his own feelings and doubts. He didn't even know how long it would be before Hisoka excepted the fact that he deserved to be loved just like anyone else, something that they were too alike in. But they had all the time in the world, and Tsuzuki would wait forever if need be.

So time passed on. There was the normal flow of paperwork, explosions caused by a certain scientist, battles between rivals, and the rantings of a secretary hell-bent on taking over the office. Hisoka was torn between being happy that they had no cases and waving his arms wildly and screaming "The boredom! It burns!"

No one had really changed that much, appearance wise, and Hisoka noticed that out of all of them he was the one who had changed the most. When he brought up the subject with Tsuzuki, the amethyst eyed shinigami bragged that because Hisoka was young he was the most adaptable. This had resulted in Hisoka chucking a weighty dictionary at his head. He hated to be reminded of his young looks.

Too bad the serenity didn't last long.

* * *

Watari dropped by their office early one morning. Hisoka was sitting at his desk, trying to do reports even though his unruly hair kept getting in the way, while Tsuzuki was trying to juggle work and eat a slice of cake at the same time.

"Yo, Bon." Watari said cheerily as he popped in. His hair was slightly singed from his latest mishap, but he was otherwise cheery as ever. "Hey, Tsuzuki, care to test out my latest experiment for me?"

"No!" Tsuzuki and Hisoka shouted at nearly the same time.

Watari chuckled as they both stopped and looked at each other, surprised at both of their reactions. "Well, Bon, answering for Tsuzuki now? Sounds like you too are pretty close right now."

He gave the blonde a wink, causing both Hisoka and Tsuzuki to turn a brilliant shade of red. Hisoka looked around for something suitable to throw at him and, finding nothing within his reach or psychic range, sighed deeply. "What do you want, Watari?"

"Do I need a reason to visit Meifu's hottest would-be couple?" Hisoka sputtered before deciding to resort to his best death glare, which the scientist seemed to be immune to. _Only Bon can look that cute when he's as red as a tomato._

"Ok, now you're just asking for me to hurt you." _Oh right, he's a violent, slightly obsessive-compulsive empath/telepath. _

"Watari, cut to the chase while you still have teeth." Tsuzuki advised through a mouthful of cake, though the slight grin on his face gave his amusement away. He smiled at the empath who seemed to be wondering why his best death glare wasn't working.

"Actually, I didn't come by just to harass you two, though it is pretty fun messing with Bon." Watari chuckled nervously as a coffee cup went flying by his ear. "Just kidding, Hisoka. Anyways, Tatsumi wants to see you two. It looks like you've finally got a case." Kyushu's shinigami exchanged a dubious glance, before heading out the door.

Tatsumi looked a lot more maniacal than usual when they walked in, and Hisoka was reminded that he really did have the face of a villain. God help anyone on Tatsumi's bad side, considering the way he treated his own friends. The secretary stood beside Chief Konoe's desk, and Hisoka was sensing more unstable emotions (which for Tatsumi wasn't a lot, since he usually never showed them at all) coming from him than he had sensed in a long time.

"Ok you two, let's cut to the chase. I want you to head out immediately."

"Immediately? What's the rush?" The order had certainly caught Tsuzuki's attention, and all thoughts of slacking immediately disappeared. This was serious.

"We've had five murders in the last couple of days, all in the Hyuga area."

A chill went down Hisoka's spine at the mention of Hyuga. "Anything peculiar about the victims?"

"Yes. They were all killed in the downtown area, within a few blocks of each other. It has attracted the attention of the press, and we're having a difficult time keeping it low-key. There have been particularly strange auras at each of the crime scenes, and all of the victims wounds continued to bleed even after death, not clotting at all."

Hisoka's right arm clenched at that, and he could feel a burning sensation under his bandages. His eyes shifted to the sleeve of his orange shirt, and he was sure that he could see a red aura flaring under its material. _Could it be? Is it them?_

"Hisoka, you ok?"

Hisoka's head snapped up at Tsuzuki's question, to find all eyes in the room on him. "I'm fine." He replied tersely. "Please continue."

"There have been animal hairs found at each scene, but that area is renowned for having packs of wild animals running wild down there, so we have chosen to overlook that. Since Kurosaki knows the area, we will leave finding accommodations to you." Tatsumi's grin was absolutely evil as those words brought an indignant outburst from both shinigami. _Well, that's my payback for five years of missed work, Kurosaki.

* * *

_

"What do you think of it, Hisoka?" The empath glanced up at his partner. They were standing on top of a warehouse and watching the streets below. It was midday, and downtown Hyuga was bustling.

"It sure is suspicious. Especially considering that we would have a case, here of all places." Hisoka stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "I have a couple of friends around here that own me favors, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find a place to stay."

That statement made Tsuzuki's brow arch involuntarily. "I thought you said you didn't like humans."

Hisoka shrugged. "There are a few worth hanging around. But living with one? Like hell. I don't need that kind of stress."

"I suppose that makes sense…" Tsuzuki said thoughtfully.

"Anyways, I'll call in on them later. For the moment, it's time to start some snooping." Hisoka inclined his head to the street below. "I would suggest heading to the Inferno. It's easy to hear local news there, plus Dante would probably be willing to spill the beans and give me some info."

"Sounds like a plan." Tsuzuki agreed. He let Hisoka lead the way, since he knew the town better than he did. Hyuga wasn't know as a hotbed for supernatural activity, even for Kyushu, and the last time Tsuzuki remembered coming here was in the seventies.

It had definitely felt more hospitable back then. These days, the aura of downtown Hyuga was one of animosity, the inhabitants looking out for their own interests. The law of the jungle applied here, and it was dog eat dog.

Hisoka seemed to have developed a reputation around this area. As he walked by many people stopped and stared, some in fear, some in contempt, but there was not a friendly face to be seen. They stared at Tsuzuki as well, and Tsuzuki couldn't help but feel like an animal in a display case, being sized up as either predator or prey.

One group even got as far as beginning to approach, cracking their knuckles threateningly. Hisoka stopped and rolled up his sleeves, exposing the bandages wrapped around his arms and his glittering curse marks. He shot a glare at the humans, and Tsuzuki saw their visible shudders before they backed away. Hisoka continued on without saying a word, leaving his partner to catch up.

"That wasn't so nice." Tsuzuki said as he caught up.

Hisoka rolled his shoulders. "And getting the crap beaten out of me isn't nice either. You have to prove to them that you're someone to be avoided here."

After twisting through enough alleyways to make Tsuzuki completely lose his sense of direction, they were in front of the bar. "You stay out here." Hisoka commanded, heading into the bar before his partner could protest.

Tsuzuki sighed as he watched a few people wander by, before turning his attention back to the bar. He wasn't foolish enough to risk Hisoka's wrath by going in when the empath had told him not to, but since the Inferno was one of those places that the "door" was just an empty hole that people could walk in and out of as they pleased. He could watch over his partner just fine from right here.

* * *

Hisoka threaded his way through the crowd of usual bar hoppers, ignoring the flashing lights and sounds of music. He had always hated dancers, but now he detested them more than ever as he was jostled from side to side. Dante had better have some info for him, or there was going to be a problem.

The manager of the bar looked up and felt his jaw drop as he clapped eyes on his former employee, who sat down on a chair at the bar. Dante chuckled. "So, you've blown into town again, eh, Hisoka? Considering the usual trend, I had expected it to be a few years before you came back."

Hisoka allowed for a sardonic grin at his former boss, knowing fully well that he wouldn't be back after this, ever. "Yeah, well I couldn't help but feel like coming by. And…" He took a deep breath, looking intensely at Dante. "I was wondering what you could tell me about the recent murders around here."

Dante drew in a sharp breath and averted his eyes to avoid that probing emerald gaze. "What do you want to know?"

"First off: what do the police think about the murders?"

"They think that they're the work of a first-class psycho. They have some of their top dogs working the case, and since they're snooping around everyone is keeping really low-key on their activities."

"Naturally. Wouldn't want to give the police another reason to celebrate, would we?" Hisoka answered smoothly.

"Yeah. You're lucky, Hisoka. Other than beating the shit out of anyone who dared to mess with you, you never really dabbled in any other activities. I'm not so well off." Dante wiped some sweat off his brow. "Having the police around is really making me jumpy. Kind of like waiting for something to slip up, you know?"

"I can understand that." For once, Hisoka was being honest. He had spent five years struggling to hide his shinigami abilities, and every morning he wondered if he would slip up, and have to leave again.

"Second: do they have any suspects yet?"

"No, not yet. There are so many suspicious folks around here that the police have a solid line of suspects from all over. Anyone could be a killer. You could be the killer, I could be the killer. There's no one to trust." Dante gulped, and Hisoka could sense genuine fear emanating from him. Hardly surprising, considering that the murders were throwing the balance of power among Hyuga's underworld out of balance.

"That's all I really wanted to know, Dante." Hisoka stood up from his seat. "A friend of mine and me will be staying in town for a few days. Do you think you could put us up for a little while?"

Dante shifted his eyes around. "Yeah. I've got a spare room at my apartment. You can stay there until your… business is concluded."

"Thanks." Hisoka rose from the bar, a split second before there was a splinter of glass as an empty beer bottle hit the bar beside him. "Kurosaki!" The words came from a distinctively female voice, laced with disgust.

Hisoka sighed tiredly before turning to face his attacker, a fair-haired woman wearing a shirt with the Inferno's logo on it, obviously an employee. She would have looked pretty most of the time, if she wasn't pissed.

"Damn, Kurosaki, and I thought your ugly mug was gone for good. You have a tough time making it where people don't take pity on you?"

That struck a nerve with the shinigami, and he could feel a distinctive headache beginning to form behind his eyes. "Well I would have hoped that a bitch like you was out of my life for good. Unfortunately, I have business in this town, so go talk to your imaginary boyfriend until I'm gone."

There was a moment of silence as the two seethed, before the woman backhanded Hisoka right across the face. He hissed at the sting, but otherwise remained silent. "Whatever, you bastard. You'd better hope your stay isn't long, or you'll regret it." She turned on her heel and walked over to the opposite end of the bar, quickly writing up the orders of a table full of high school drop-outs.

"Don't worry about her, kid; she's just a sore loser." Dante said as he loosened the grip he had on his shotgun. Hisoka rubbed at his face, the hand mark faded away before anyone noticed it healing.

"No prob. I'll see you later, Dante."

* * *

As Hisoka walked out of the bar, Tsuzuki shot his partner a questioning look. "What was that all about?"

His partner shrugged his shoulders as they headed down the street. "Cassandra? She's just one of my former co-workers."

"What did you do to piss her off?"

"Maybe it was when she tried to sic her brother on me on my first day and I broke his jaw. Maybe it's the fact that we were always competing while I was at work. Maybe she just hates my guts. I don't know." Hisoka kicked at an empty can.

"Well, a little competition is good for you. Helps you grow." Tsuzuki teased lightly. Just as he had expected, Hisoka's face grew darker.

"I don't need to do any growing. I'm just fine the way I am, and there's no point in wishing for something that there's no chance in hell of happening." He whacked his partner hard over the top of his head.

"Oh come on, Soka-chan." Tsuzuki cried as crocodile tears ran down his face. "I meant it helps you grow in character."

"Yeah right. You were just trying to make me mad. Can't believe that you haven't gotten anymore mature since I left." Hisoka grumbled.

Tsuzuki grinned. "Well, I did manage to keep up the paperwork on my own for five years. That's something."

"Yeah, considering that I can do that at twenty one, (technically) I would really hope that a guy over a century old could do simple paperwork."

"I'm not that old!" Tsuzuki protested indignantly. "Let's see… I was born in 1900." He began counting off decades on his finger, before stopping and remaining silent.

"Uh-huh." Hisoka said. "Think before you open your mouth, baka."

They both froze as a hand clamped down on Hisoka's shoulder. Tsuzuki saw his partner's eyes darken at the physical contact, and he knew that Hisoka was about to attack before an authoritative voice cut through their thoughts. "Kurosaki Hisoka?"

"Yeah." Hisoka said as he jerked his jacket out of the stranger's grasp and turned around to see a middle aged man in a black overcoat standing behind him. "That's my name, but I don't know why it's any of _your_ business."

The man's face darkened as he reached inside his coat and pulled out a wallet, flipping it open to reveal a badge. "Sgt. Yuki Shinomori. I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you down to the station for questioning."_Oh, shit._

_

* * *

_

Ok, let's see on my list of things to do with this fic. One: get Hisoka back to the Bureau. Check! Two: overdone character analysis by one Hajime Terazuma. Check! Three: conveniant excuse to get Hisoka and Tsuzuki to live together. Thank you Tatsumi, and check! Finally, four: the totally-cliched-return-case-that-is-a-conveniant-excuse-for-me-to-finally-get-some-in-first-class-character-torture. Check and mate!

Plus, I got to help my reviewers in their quest for peace in the YnM fandom, and promoted general chaos as usual. -dusts off hands- All in a days work. Looking forward to the reviews (and to see your reactions on my quote of the pairing result) and I'll see you all in the next chapter.


	9. Chapter Eight

Ok, I'm so sorry, but I finally managed to get this chapter out. -mumbles- I am not worthy... But anyways, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all the folks who haven't bitten my head off by now. I was getting really lonely out there in the real world now that my school blocked Runescape and anything else remotely fun, so I turned to my fellow YnM and Tsusoka fans.

Muse: So, about one person will be showing up after all this time?

Me: Who asked you? Anyways, time for reviewer mail!

**Mizuki hikari:** Lol. I thought it would be so hilarious for the Guardians of Death to get arrested by the guardians of the living. -weak laugh- I'm such a bitch...

**jennamarie:** Yeah, somehow you did miss one. Oh well, that means you get more at the same time! And as for the bandages, you'll have to wait until the next chapter for that. -ducks shuriken- Damn fangirl ninjas... As for Hisoka's psycho co-worker, you'll be meeting two of her psycho relatives in this chapter too. Cue the confetti and sparklers... And it seems that every time poor Hisoka tries to stay low key, he just ends up too well known for confort.

**laustic:** Yay! I look forward to all reviews, but I'm always on the lookout for yours. And death to all Tsuzuki/Muraki fics! THEY'RE KILLING THE TSUSOKA!

**Ryo Yuriko:** No prob. I like Watari. He amuses me. I like almost every character except Muraki, Hijiri, and Tsubaki. The last two are mainly because I am a member of the Hijiri Minase death squad, dedicated to the destruction of all back story characters. They annoy me, and it irritates the hell out of me when writers bring them back and try to pair them with the shinigami. HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO WORK OUT? THEY'RE DEAD! TSUSOKA FOREVER!

**Saphira112:** -comes out from behind bomb shelter- I know, right? -Muse joins me, with a knife sticking out of his forehead- WE MUST KILL THE NON-BELIEVER! -to Muse- Go get the AK-47 and the anti-tank rifle. Let's send this sorry bastard to hell! -back to Saphira- I always have wondered how to kill someone with a salad fork. It's amazing what you can find online without intending it. I'm definately in. -holds up a sand grinder and grins evilly- I've been meaning to break this baby in for a _long_ time.

**Shinigamixgirl:** Sundays suck!!!! And yes, Hisoka has been arrested. Let's see what he does, shall we?

**Kaouri18:** Thank you. I agree, Tsuzuki and Hisoka should be living together, and I think I accomplished that quite nicely. I also put in some rare Tatsumi humor. XD I can totally see him doing that.

**Vyrian D:** Woot woot, go character torture! -victory music plays in the background- Good way to add drama, though me no likey character death. -frown- I can get depressed enough on my own, thanks.

**redharuka96:** Welp, here's the next chappy. Enjoy.

**hentai18ancilla:** Thanks you very much. I am hanging by, but not enough to get me off this grounding. I'm supposed to be doing my homework right now, but instead I wanted to talk to you guys. You're much better company.

* * *

Chapter Eight

Hisoka was sick of humans. Some were good, some were bad, but they all tended to stick their noses into places where they didn't belong.

Like right now for instance. He was sitting at a table in a white-washed room. There was no furniture, just a single naked bulb glaring harshly down from overhead. He had been sitting here waiting to be interrogated for an hour or two, and he was seriously zoning out. It occurred to him that he hadn't eaten since before he had come to work that morning, testified by the fact that his stomach was growling.

"Hey." One of the two cops walking in the door snapped a finger in front of his eyes, bringing Hisoka back to reality. He sighed as he left the realm of his stomach and forced himself to pay attention to the matter at hand. He had to admit, as worried as he was about the fact that he was sitting inside a police station, the arrival of his interrogators was a welcome distraction.

"We'd like to ask you a couple of questions." One of them started off. Hisoka rolled his eyes. Why did interrogations always start off like this? Get to the point already.

"First off, I assume you've heard of the murders going on in this area?"

"Jumping to conclusions? But yeah, I have heard of them." Hisoka could sense a growing annoyance from the cop at his sarcastic answers, but then again he was already annoyed at being dragged here, so this was payback.

"Well, five people were killed in the downtown area, all within a few blocks of one another. Interesting timing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hisoka growled, before checking himself. Getting on the wrong side of the police was not a good idea.

"Well, you have quite a reputation in the downtown area. Just about everyone knows who you are, and that the Inferno, owned by one Dante Virgil," Hisoka winced. Dante had never told him his last name, and it was easy to see why. Not only was his last name that of a famous poet, but they had to throw in the name of the poet he supposedly guided through Hell? It sounded like his mother had had a very bad sense of humor.

"Is your stomping grounds." The cop continued, watching Hisoka's expression carefully, and the empath couldn't help but feel a sense of triumph. _Sorry, but this kid's got a few aces up his sleeve, asshole._

"And these murders have interesting timing, because you haven't been seen for close to a month. And now you show up."

"I moved." Hisoka said, keeping his unblinking emerald eyes locked on the cop.

"Really? Then why are you back so soon?" They were trying to force him into a corner.

"I had business here, otherwise I wouldn't be." Hisoka answered. "And once I've concluded my business, I'll head back home."

"Really? We'd kind of like to see this house of yours, considering that we can't find your birth records anywhere in our database." _Shit!_ Hisoka thought._ Yeah, I'll just teleport you to the land of the dead where you can chat with my boss, also dead. Yeah, that'd work out real well._

"Well, any database error is your problem, isn't it? Besides, I was at home when the murders were happening."

"Can you have anyone verify that?"

"Yeah, my friend who you dragged to the station with me." The empath answered smoothly.

"Interesting, considering that we can't find him in the database either." Hisoka cursed inwardly again. It looked like this was going to be a tough interrogation. He really regretted underestimating the police force. Just because he was immortal didn't mean that he would be able to weasel out of everything.

* * *

Tsuzuki was standing in the waiting room, watching Hisoka through the one-way glass window that was in front of him. His partner was very good at hiding his inner turmoil, but Tsuzuki could tell that he was mad and getting madder. 

A secretary was sitting at a desk beside a locked door leading down the hall. He assumed that there were more interrogation rooms further down, but he thanked his lucky stars that Hisoka was in the one close to him. He sighed in silent relief as the cops left the room, and Hisoka remained fuming silently behind. Tsuzuki slowly lowered his shields and projected some comforting emotions his way, smiling when Hisoka visibly relaxed.

The door opened and Tsuzuki glanced up in surprise to see a tall man wearing a shirt with the Inferno's logo on it and a smaller man in a brown coat, but stiffened noticeably when he noticed that both had striking characteristics to the woman that he had seen slapping Hisoka back at the bar. Just watching that had made him furious, even though he knew it didn't hurt Hisoka.

While the tall man sat down in a chair, the smaller one, who had rat-like features, walked over to the glass beside Tsuzuki and stared intently at the blonde sitting there. He growled.

"You gotta be freakin' kidding me." He muttered, looking at Tsuzuki for an explanation, assuming automatically that the shinigami knew all that he wanted to know. "That's the infamous Hisoka Kurosaki? Say it isn't so."

Tsuzuki remained silent and kept watching Hisoka.

"Jesus." The guy muttered. "Where the hell did Dante find him? At a beach volleyball tournament? Maybe not, he doesn't have a tan. Gotta love the hair." He shook his head. "He's not even as big as I am. He's what, five foot nothing? One hundred pounds in steel-toed boots? I'm expecting to find some ugly bruiser bigger than Cain over there and what do I get? The next child actor. Looks like his I.Q would be low enough."

Hisoka stopped playing in his chair and turned to face the mirror. He got up, crossed the room, and stood in front of Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki was leaning forward, one hand against the glass. Hisoka reached out and touched his fingertips to Tsuzuki's, perfectly aligned, and smiled. A genuine smile that sent Tsuzuki's heart soaring. The guy jumped back.

"Damn," he said. "I thought that was one-way glass."

"It is."

Hisoka turned to the direction that the man was standing and glared. "Holy cow, that's spooky." The man muttered, shivering.

"Didn't I tell you, little brother?" The man sitting in the chair, presumably Cain, spoke quietly, the first words he had said since they had come in. "I told you, Carl, Kurosaki is one scary son of a bitch. Watch out for him."

"Yeah right, Cain," The other man scoffed, "just because he busted your jaw doesn't mean that I'm gonna be scared of that skinny little shrimp. He couldn't beat me in a million years."

There was a tapping at the window, and Carl turned back to see Hisoka glaring at him, before the empath gave him the one-fingered salute. Tsuzuki had to choke back on his laughter at the furious look on Carl's face as he promptly bashed his knuckles on the tempered glass. Not a smooth idea.

Hisoka mouthed three words, before the two officers reentered the room. He bounded back across the room and through the door. When he was gone, Carl glanced at Tsuzuki. "What did he say?"

"Wait for me."

"Wait for me?"

"It's a challenge." Cain grinned from his chair. "He's inviting you to stick around and get to know him better."

Carl gulped nervously. "Aren't _you_ going to?"

Cain's lips curved into a smile. "He didn't invite me."

There was a horse-like snort in answer. "I'll never understand you fighters and your false bravado. I'm out of here." He stalked out the door with an angry glare at Tsuzuki, hands in his pockets.

"Ah, the joys of babysitting." Cain stood up a moment later and followed suit.

Tsuzuki was searching through his pockets for some sweets when Hisoka entered the room. "Death penalty?" Tsuzuki asked as Hisoka walked over to him.

"Yeah right. It was bullshit. Pure bullshit, and I missed lunch because of it."

"Want to get something to eat before we call it a day?"

"Sure."

* * *

Hisoka threw his duffel bag of clothes down on the cot in his room at Dante's. Well, not exactly "his" room. Dante didn't have a lot of space, so he was stuck sharing the room with Tsuzuki. Speak of the devil… 

The violet eyed shinigami came in from his shower, hair still damp, and wearing a pair of black pajama bottoms. There was no shirt in sight. Then again, Hisoka was used to that by now. He had spent a lot of missions with Tsuzuki before and was used to the routine. His partner never slept with a shirt on, being extremely hot-natured.

The two had decided to turn in early, around 7:30, so that they could get up and do some work before dawn. Hisoka slid off his shoes, remaining in his clothes, and laid down on his bed.

"I could take the cot." Tsuzuki's voice drawled from beside him.

"You're bigger than I am. I'll be fine." Hisoka answered. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the gaze that he felt on his back. It was only when he felt mattress shift under Tsuzuki's weight and a pair of warm arms wrapped around his waist that he opened his eyes again. "Let go."

"Nope! I'm comfy now." Tsuzuki replied from behind him. Despite his mind's wishes, Hisoka could feel himself relaxing into the embrace. He was tired after pounding the streets all day, and Tsuzuki's strong arms wrapped around him… He felt safe, safer than he had in a long time.

"You've got your own bed." Hisoka attempted to growl, though the effect was lost on the older shinigami.

"Yeah, but it hurts my back, and I'll be whining all day tomorrow, and then you'll yell at me and hit me with blunt objects. I'd rather risk you right now than then."

Hisoka sighed at the rather straight-forward answer from his partner. "Fine, but if you snore your face will meet the floorboards."

Cool breath fanned his ear as Tsuzuki hugged the teen closer. "Thanks, Soka."

"Just go to sleep, baka."

"Right. Night, Soka."

* * *

-grins- Hope you guys liked that. I loved this chapter. Writing it was so much fun. Now, do you wanna hear the bad news? Either way, I'll still tell you. I probably won't be able to update for another long while, because I am currently re-working the next chapter because I thought I was getting way too many OCs and it was just going to get OOC and melodramatic. You guys have finally caught up with me. But once the next chapter is done, I will try to update ASAP. See ya next time! 


	10. Chapter Nine

Me: -nearly crying- I am so sorry, guys! It took me such a long time to update. I can explain! You see, I got grounded for six months, then got sent to my Grandma's for a month and she still gets her internet through the phoneline, and then i had to redo this chapter like five thousand times and I'm still not happy with it! -sobs-

Muse: Breathe, Chrono! Breathe!

Me: And to top it off, I had to break a few promises I made. This chapter was really tough on me, and I don't think the next one's gonna get any better. But hopefully I will get it up before five months have passed. This one is like four straight pages of fluff. I'm SORRY!!!

Chapter Nine

Tsuzuki was the first one to awaken the next morning, shaking his head lightly as he glanced at the digital clock that blinked annoyingly at him, informing him that it was currently the ungodly hours in between five and eight in the morning. Luckily, he had managed to wake up five minutes before the alarm was scheduled to go off, so he reached over to the nightstand to shut it off.

As Tsuzuki moved his arm, something stirred in his grip, momentarily startling him as he glanced down to see a mop of ash-blonde hair.

He smiled as Hisoka unconsciously shifted closer, recalling the boy's cute habit of heat-seeking, which he had discovered during one of their earlier cases when Tatsumi had decided to showcase his administrative skills and book them a hotel room with only one bed.

Tsuzuki knew that he would have to awaken Hisoka eventually, but he couldn't bring himself to do so just yet. Moments like this with Hisoka were few and far between. It was a very rare night indeed that the boy slept without nightmares, so Tsuzuki learned to cherish them well.

He gently brushed the bangs away from Hisoka's eyes, carefully observing the angelic face that looked so peaceful in sleep. The boy was so much more relaxed than Tsuzuki had ever seen when awake. Tsuzuki would sneak into Hisoka's room at night just to gaze on his face, until he began to feel like a stalker and slipped out.

There was another reason for this as well. Hisoka's nightmares were so frequent these days that, unless they were particularly vicious, Tsuzuki wouldn't know that they had occurred at all if it hadn't been for the exhaustion that doggedly followed his partner after each episode. He knew that Hisoka could feel emotions while asleep, so he made certain to project as many comforting feelings his way as possible.

As a small bonus, when his emotions failed to stave off the nightmares, Tsuzuki was always there to wake the boy up as quickly as possible. He would always say things like he heard the racket from down the hall or something similar, and Hisoka was always too shaken to catch his lies.

Still, it put Tsuzuki at ease to know that as long as he stood guard over the boy, he'd make certain that the bastard doctor was thwarted, even if only in Hisoka's dreams.

As if on cue, Hisoka let out a small whimper, face scrunching up in denial as he attempted to press himself closer to Tsuzuki's body.

Tsuzuki sighed in patience, shifting carefully until Hisoka's head was resting on his chest. One of the tricks he'd learned on the rare occasions that he couldn't wake the boy up was that Hisoka always seemed to calm down if he could hear Tsuzuki's heartbeat. The boy sighed in his sleep as his face returned to the calm state it had been originally.

Of course, Tsuzuki was always back in his own bed by the time Hisoka woke up in the morning. Hisoka didn't need to know everything, though Tsuzuki was always tempted to find out how flustered the boy would be if he woke up sleeping on Tsuzuki's chest. The older shinigami grinned wickedly at the thought and made a mental note to find out one day.

Tsuzuki remained the way he was for a while, silently enjoying the quiet of the night and having Hisoka so close to him. He scowled lightly as he recalled the case they were on. Tsuzuki didn't believe in coincidence, and the fact that these murders had started up after Hisoka left the town was too close for comfort. He ran his fingers through Hisoka's hair, silently vowing to keep a close eye on him for the remainder of the mission.

The murders were enough to invoke Tsuzuki's anger, but if they hurt Hisoka...

"Gods have mercy on them if they even dare to touch him," Tsuzuki whispered softly. "Because I certainly won't."

He was brought back to present as Hisoka made a small noise of discontent. Tsuzuki froze, waiting until the boy had stopped fidgeting before he even dared to breathe. He lightly blew the bangs out of the boy's eyes. Hisoka grumbled something unrecognizable before rolling on his side away from Tsuzuki. The boy was positioned on his right arm (which was starting to go numb) but Tsuzuki wasn't complaining.

He glanced at the digital clock that was flashing annoyingly once again, cutting through his night vision painfully. He sighed at how quickly time flew, seeing as it was already six a.m. Knowing he was going to regret it, he gently reached out and shook Hisoka's shoulder. Emerald eyes flickered open, unfocused, to gaze at him as Hisoka twisted around to look at Tsuzuki.

"Sorry for waking you up, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said quietly. "But it's around the time we agreed on."

It took the empath a moment or two to register what he was saying, or why he was so close to Tsuzuki. When he finally did, the telltale blush swept across Hisoka's face as he jumped back with a sharp yelp. Tsuzuki bit back a laugh as he grabbed Hisoka's upper arms.

"Careful, you'll fall," He cautioned, pulling the empath back onto the cot. Hisoka blinked a moment before sitting up and throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, frowning at the mess of twisted sheets kicked onto the floor before turning back to his partner.

'_What the-,'_ Hisoka had enough time to think before the memories of the previous evening invaded his mind.

"What's wrong? Did you forget whose bed you were taking over, this time?" Tsuzuki asked, winking at the blonde.

"B-baka!" Hisoka sputtered as he quickly grabbed the laptop they had been provided and sat on the floor. Even in the dim light, Tsuzuki could tell that the boy's face was beet red. He wondered how Hisoka would react if he knew how many other times he had ended up snoozing on his partner's chest, and chuckled at the thought.

Hisoka was typing furiously on the computer, sifting through the ministry's case files to check for any updates on their mission. Tsuzuki's face softened as he watched his partner automatically shift into the serious "adult" face he always wore when he was working. Hisoka was just as good an actor as Tsuzuki, even if the act was just habit.

"But joking aside," Tsuzuki said, a little more serious this time. "I'm glad you didn't have nightmares. Did you have a good night's sleep?"

Hisoka gulped, still blushing furiously as he tried to avoid his partner's probing gaze. However, Tsuzuki wasn't going to let him drop the subject.

"Come on. I know you didn't have nightmares, and you couldn't have been cold, all snuggled up to me like you were." Hisoka forced himself to glance up at Tsuzuki, but what he had meant to be a warning glare just ended up being liquefied by Tsuzuki's warm smile. Geez, the older shinigami could make him blush more in one morning than he normally would all day.

Tsuzuki grinned at his flustered partner. "So?"

"...Yeah..."

"Yeah what?"

"You know damn well what," Hisoka growled angrily as he brought down his fingers with excessive force on the keyboard.

"Well 'yeah' can mean a lot of things," Tsuzuki said, preparing to launch into a long list. "For example, you could have meant-."

"Alright. I had a good night's sleep." Hisoka sighed in defeat. Tsuzuki reached over and ruffled the youth's hair affectionately.

"Good."

* * *

"So this is stop one on the Hyuga Horror Show?" Tsuzuki asked as he looked at the abandoned warehouse in front of the pair.

"Yeah. The first victim, 22 year-old Karin Otanashi was attacked while here. The wounds were obviously cause by a double-edged knife, since it managed to slice in a completely different direction on the victim without halt or even slowing down." Hisoka replied, silently staring up at the warehouse.

Tsuzuki shivered at Hisoka's summation of the victim's death. "You know, it really creeps me out that you can read that stuff like it's nothing, 'Soka."

Hisoka ignored him and instead checked the front entrance to the abandoned building. Not surprisingly; it was covered in police tape and dead bolted. Hisoka wouldn't have been surprised if the door was being monitored by police, and didn't particularly relish the thought of another visit with Sgt. Shinomori.

"Spirit form?" Tsuzuki asked quietly as his partner turned back to him. Hisoka nodded as the two shifted into their intangible bodies, proceeding to move through the walls completely unseen by nearby mortals.

"You know," Tsuzuki started as they returned to human form on the other side. "Seventy years on the job, but I can never get used to the fact that I'm walking through walls."

Once again, Hisoka offered no reply as he closed his eyes, casting out his empathy to check for any other presence in the building. Tsuzuki immediately recognized his partner's "work face" and knew that any other attempts at conversation would have to wait till later. Hisoka's eyes snapped open.

"Something's here," he murmured softly to Tsuzuki. I can't make out if it's a spell or our culprit, but either way it can't be good."

Tsuzuki nodded as he drew a fuda from the inside of his trench coat. The two slowly began to move through the warehouse, keeping a wary eye out for anything that might be lurking around the corner. There were huge crates stacked all around them, and Tsuzuki was beginning to feel a growing sense of claustrophobia. It was only the thought that Hisoka was close by that kept him from freaking out completely.

Both froze instantly as a chill rushed passed them. "What the hell was that?"

"Come on," Hisoka urged. "There's only one way to find out."

No sooner had he taken two steps, before something huge slammed through the wooden crates and rammed straight into him.

* * *

So yeah. That's where we stop. Like i said, I didn't enjoy this chapter, but hopefully once I get past this slow part and get into the parts I'm really excited about, then I'll be able to get my head back in the game. Anyone who comes back... I love you. -walks away muttering- I am not worthy... 


	11. Chapter Ten

Me: -beaming with pride- Hi guys, I'm back and better than ever!

Muse: Not really.

Me: Well, better meaning that I'm finally back on track and only slightly struggling with this fic. Though the first part is a little choppy, since I started writing it almost directly after the last chapter and was still coming out of my slump. I have a lot of things to thank for this, such as: A few CDs I got, such as Crossfade's _Falling away_, Disturbed's _Believe_, and Fuel's _Devils and Angels. _Awesome cds, all of them, and a special aknowledgment goes to my stepdad for finally getting me an itunes account. Another important booster was Tinkerbell-Green-Leaf's Kurosaki Horror Picture Show. That fic had me laughing so hard I thought my ribs would crack. Seriously, go read it now.

And last, but sure as hell not least, I have you guys to thank for getting me back on track. Since the last sucky chapter, I've had more people subscribing and reviewing than ever before. It's a serious morale booster, and I can't thank you guys enough for it, though I may be selfish enough to ask some of those subscribers to drop a review. -hinthint- I mean, 36 of you have me on alert. Wow, that's a lotta pressure, but I don't mind one bit.

So here's Once Bitten, Chapter Ten!

* * *

Chapter Ten

One second Hisoka had been in front of him, the next thing Tsuzuki knew his partner was being pitched across the room, only to smash through another crate and come to a rest half under a pile of debris. A dark mass stood in the boy's place, red eyes glaring fiercely out of the gloom created by the dust stirred up by its entrance. It growled menacingly at Tsuzuki, putting one paw forward as it licked its chops hungrily.

Tsuzuki responded with a hastily thrown fuda. The beast dodged to one side, but the force of the blast generated by Tsuzuki's spell threw it off balance. It gave Tsuzuki enough time to sprint to where his partner lay.

The boy's eyes were clouded by pain, teeth gritted as he tried to remain in that odd half state between being awake and unconscious. Blood dripped from a cut on his brow and his thin chest heaved, trying to breath under the oppressive weight of the debris. Yellow and purple bruises were beginning to form on his neck, and claw marks raked across his chest from where the creature had caught him.

Across the room, the dark beast growled as it regained its footing. It sprang forward, only to smack against the shield Tsuzuki had formed around them. It shook its head, as if to clear it, before beginning to stalk the edge of the protective shield, red eyes gazing hungrily at the forms that shimmered within.

Tsuzuki glared at him, silently brooding that he was unable to go on the offensive while within the circle. He was brought back to the present as Hisoka's hand reached out and grasped his trench coat. Gritting his teeth from the effort, the teen managed to sit up despite the wreckage that had been covering him.

The beast snarled as Hisoka stood uneasily, holding on to Tsuzuki's arm for support. Those snarls turned into yelps of surprise as Hisoka sent a wave of wreckage smashing through the barrier. A two foot piece of plywood hit it clearly in the shoulder, sending a spray of black blood onto the floor.

Hisoka's face remained passive as he stepped forward, eyes flashing dangerously as he eyed his enemy. The beast, now foaming at the mouth, gave a loud snap at the boy. Hisoka merely replied by sending more wreckage hurtling at it.

It went wrong this time. The creature crashed through the nearest crate, avoiding the projectiles by mere inches. Tsuzuki reached for another fuda, eying the area around them for any sign of movement. "Hisoka--."

The massive shape hurtled past him, and in the split second Tsuzuki realized that it was a wolf, a gigantic black wolf. That thought was banished as the wolf smacked into Hisoka again. Blood splattered, and both combatants howled in pain.

Tsuzuki saw Hisoka's eyes widen a fraction of an inch. "You child killing bastard!"

A psychic backlash followed a split-second later, knocking the wolf away. Hisoka's face was livid with rage, white-hot fury coursing through his veins as the barrage of attacks continued to rain down on the beast. Tsuzuki made a mental note to never piss his partner off, at least not that badly.

As quickly as it had come, the wolf backed away. Before Tsuzuki could do anything, there was a shimmer of black shadows, and it was gone.

Immediately, the atmosphere lost the eerie quality that had signaled the beast's presence. Tsuzuki pocketed his fuda, instantly moving to his partner's side. The boy had a pretty nasty gash on his side, and his hand clasped a shard of wood that was covered in black blood. He was still standing, but silent and unresponsive.

"Hisoka," Tsuzuki touched his shoulder, but the boy quickly slapped it away. Now that he was closer he could see that the boy was shaking, and his breathing was harsh and heavy. "Hisoka, let me help you."

"I'm fine," The boy replied through gritted teeth. "It's just a bad reaction."

"To what?"

"That thing's emotions," Hisoka replied simply, sitting to lean against wall, one leg drawn up against his chest. "I'm not sure what the hell it was, but it was smart. It felt things, it could strategize, learn quickly from experience... I've never felt anything like that before."

"Maybe Watari will know something about it," Tsuzuki said, looking around at the damage wrought in the warehouse. He winced, hoping they would get out before anyone found them here. It was a murder scene, after all. Being found here would not bode well.

"At least you didn't level the whole building," Hisoka said, knowing full well what his partner was thinking.

"Yeah," Tsuzuki replied, still too deep in thought. He snapped out of it as his mind processed the implications of that comment. "Hey, why is it always my fault that a building gets destroyed?"

"Let's see, we have the library, twice, the university in Kyoto, and what about that other warehouse during our first case?"

"Ok, I get the point," Tsuzuki grumbled. "I cause a lot of destruction."

He grinned wickedly. "But what about that time when you touched Terazuma and made him transform and wreak havoc at the archery tournament? And that warehouse incident is split between us, since _technically_ we were synchronized."

When Hisoka didn't answer, Tsuzuki was worried that he had gone too far. But when he crouched down next to his partner, he realized that he was asleep. It wasn't until he looked him over did he realize why.

The gash in his side had healed along with the claw marks across his chest, though blown had blown a ragged hole through his jacket and orange shirt, something Tsuzuki knew that Hisoka would be pissed over. But what caught his eye was the blood still dripping onto the floor.

'_But his healing powers should have...'_ Tsuzuki's thoughts trailed off as he saw the wound.

By doctor's standards, it was a massive injury: thin, but clearly very deep; a long cut going from the back of his arm right below the elbow, arching around to his wrist and just barely missing several vital arteries. The wound continued to bleed, refusing to heal, as a sick red aura encompassed most of his arm, pulsating like some sick imitation of a heart. Looking at it felt... wrong.

A few shreds of cloth were clinging stubbornly to the injury, and Tsuzuki realized with a jolt that they were the remainders of the boy's bandages. What disturbed him even more was how the blood continued to drip from the cut at a frightening rate. It wasn't so much quick as it was steady, a constant stream of liquid flowing into the already large blood pool on the floor.

"What the... oh damn!" Grabbing the boy as quickly as possible, Tsuzuki teleported to the Judgment Bureau.

* * *

His head hurt like hell.

That was the first thing Hisoka noticed as he slowly opened his eyes. He knew he was dreaming; the entire scenery around him had that ethereal quality that, to his experience, reality utterly lacked.

'_Well, except for that one dream.'_ He winced at the unwanted thought, trying to push it away as he observed his surroundings.

If possible, this was the only area that nearly eclipsed the Sakura Grove as his least favorite place on Earth. He could hear the steady beating and whirring of the machines, see the early morning fog ghosting across the window. He couldn't find the energy to lift his head, or to even care.

A joyless laugh forced itself from his throat, harsh and cynical. _'Of all the memories to relive...'_

He knew it was just his mind's natural reaction to emotional overload. In fact, he found it divinely ironic that it had been the hospital, his deathbed, that had given him the most peace in his entire existent, mainly because he was so inwardly focused during those three years that he just plain didn't give a shit.

Hisoka chuckled darkly at the feelings that seeped into his mind. He would need an hour or two to sort through them all, to distinguish himself from what he felt. But right now...

He felt like drowning.

* * *

Tsuzuki glanced up from his seat in the infirmary beside his partner, as a familiar blonde scientist walked in. "What's the deal, Watari?"

Watari sighed, brushing unruly bangs back from his eyes as he leaned against the desk. "Other than nearly having five heart attacks in the span of an hour? Not much to be said, other than that."

"You mean you don't have any idea what's wrong with Hisoka?" Tsuzuki looked miserable.

"Oh, I know what's wrong with him. What I don't know is how or why," Watari replied.

"I'm not a genius, Watari. Just tell me what's wrong with my partner, already. And stop being a smartass," Tsuzuki grumbled bad-naturedly. He wasn't usually in bad moods over anything, but it was a proven fact at the Judgment Bureau that when something was wrong with Hisoka, Tsuzuki was about as cheerful as a thunderstorm.

"As you no-doubt already figured out, the wound won't heal." Watari grimaced at the annoyed look Tsuzuki shot him. "And trying to implode my face won't help Tsuzuki, so you might as well give up now."

Tsuzuki sighed as he tried to get his emotions under control. After all, it wasn't Watari's fault that Hisoka was in the infirmary, and the doctor was working late just to look after him. "Is there anything you can tell me?"

"Well, if it helps any, he'll probably be out for a few hours." At Tsuzuki's surprised glance, Watari elaborated. "You said that he went berserk after feeling the wolf's emotions, right? Well not only did that put a huge strain on him mentally, but overusing his gift over exhausted him."

"Great," Tsuzuki stated, shoving his papers to one side and sitting back in his chair. His shoulders drooped and Watari noted that he was talking in an extremely flat tone.

"Cheer up, Tsuzuki," Watari said, clapping his coworker on the shoulder. "If anything, this gives us time to research _why_ Bon's wound is like this. Then we can focus on fixing it."

Tsuzuki smiled lightly. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am."

* * *

"He's late," One of the shadows growled from where it lay on top of a dumpster. "He should have met us half an hour ago."

"Calm yourself, brother," Another shadow said from its seat next to the dumpster, peering towards the mouth of the alley as it picked a few fleas free from its midnight pelt. "We can't all be punctual. Sometimes things don't go according to plan."

"That's exactly why I told you that I should have handled it. Why send a simpering idiot to do a job you can do yourself?"

At the sound of that voice, cold and full of authority, both wolves turned their heads and perked up their ears, red eyes gleaming eerily in the darkness as they focused on the woman leaning against the alley wall opposite of them. Dark clothing did little to mask the bright glow of blonde hair and shimmering red eyes, lit in brief flickers by streetlights and passing cars.

"A leader cannot simply abandon duty to rush off in some menial task," The wolf sitting beside the dumpster replied. "It is only when an underling fails that the alpha steps in, to demonstrate its strength and set an example for the pack's weaklings to follow."

"Why don't you shift to wolf form, sister?" The one on top of the dumpster suggested. Its red eyes glimmered in faint amusement as a white tipped ear twitched back and forth. "You look tense. It definitely can't be comfortable; having to be stuck wearing that stupid _two-leg_ disguise longer than is necessary."

"I'm fine," She snapped back. "Just because you two are older than me doesn't mean that you have to baby me all the time. I'm the alpha now, and I'm tired of being the runt of the litter."

The black wolf tensed, halting its search for the fleas that constantly plagued it in this infernal city that they had chosen to call home. "He's here."

Sure enough, a figure appeared at the mouth of the alley. A red baseball cap hid black hair and yellow eyes from sight as he quickly paced towards them, ill-fitting sweats snagged from a clothesline on the way threatening to slip free from those bony shoulders. He halted and knelt on his knees, paying homage to his superiors before he drew closer.

"About time," The blonde leader said disdainfully as she eyed the crimson stains that marked his shoulder and upper arm. "Please tell me you gave as good as you got this time."

"Yep," The newcomer grinned maliciously, even though the others viewed his expression as stupid and under-polished. Underlings should never be allowed glee. They got too cocky that way. "I gave him a nice gash on his side and a good clawing across his chest. Don't know why the stubborn bastard won't die, though."

The woman remained unimpressed as he plunked down next to the dumpster, backing a respectful distance away when her brothers simultaneously snarled at him. "What about the old wound? The one on his arm?"

"It's still there," Her subordinate replied as he shifted to wolf form and began licking his wounds. "Even though he should have bled to death a long time ago."

The leader made a disgusted sound in her throat. "Shit, Kai. It's bad enough that the police are catching on. With those powers of his, the kid could easily become a problem for us."

The dark wolf made a low chuckle in its throat as it glanced towards its sister. "Maybe Kai has something of substance for us? Something that could help us turn the tide, perhaps?"

Kai straightened himself, trying to look important. "Well, at one point he ended up lowering his shields."

"So what?" The woman snapped.

"Well, he may have seen inside my head, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't know that I looked into his," Kai gave a feral grin. "I think I may have found a weakness."

* * *

Me: So there we have it. Things are staring to heat up in the story, though even more questions are popping up than being answered. Plus, I did spend a little more time with the wolves than anything else in this chapter.

Muse: Just stop putting yourself down and enjoy it. You did good this time and actually updated, for once.

Me: Thanks Muse! That said, I hope to see you guys, all of you, in the next chapter. I'll be seein' ya!


	12. Chapter Eleven

Me: Oh my. Ok, my only excuse for this 'fluff' chapter is that I've been away for a while and needed to tie it up somehow. And OMG, the chapter breaks. And while I shouldn't be here, the temptation of a computer with open internet connection was too much for even me to resist.

Muse: Translation: she got her ass grounded again and began to feel guilty for not updating in so long.

Me: Thanks Muse. You're a freaking sweetheart.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

"I got it!" A cry of jubilation echoed through Watari's lab, but was shortly followed by a low groan. "No, that's not it."

"Come on Watari," Tsuzuki muttered half-heartedly from where he was sitting in one of Watari's office chairs, propping his chin on one hand. "That's the fifth false alarm in an hour."

"Well, looking through every archival record isn't easy," Watari shot back from where he was typing on his computer. "You would not believe how many records we have on gigantic wolves with glowing red eyes. This is a lot harder than I make it look."

"I didn't mean it like that; I just meant not to cry out before you look over every fact." Tsuzuki stood, exiting the room. "I'm going to check on Hisoka."

"Suit yourself, lover-boy," Watari muttered, before clicking on the next link on the screen.

* * *

Hisoka's dreams had taken a turn for the worse.

He was standing in the middle of the street, glancing around at the deserted alleys to the sides and wondering why no one else was there. He was wearing a light colored coat similar to the one he had during the Devil's Trill case, despite the fact that it reminded him too much of a straightjacket.

Hisoka was less surprised to find that he was armed; a pair of wakizashis strapped on his back. He would have liked a katana better, but the shorter variant was better in close combat. He did note with satisfaction that he had a handgun in the pocket of his coat.

He sensed Tsuzuki's presence before the older shinigami walked out of the mist behind him. There was something almost ghostly about his appearance, but Hisoka attributed that to the fog and the moonlight shining down on them. Tsuzuki stopped beside him, but made no move to acknowledge Hisoka.

All was well up until the moment the moon turned red. There was hardly any surprise for Hisoka there, but the fact that the scene had not melted into hellish cherry trees puzzled him. That was, before a searing pain assaulted his arms. He fell to his knees with a sharp yelp, the pain being even worse than usual.

All too quickly, the pain faded away. Hisoka picked himself up, glancing at Tsuzuki. His partner was looking at him, a sad expression on his face. Then, as Hisoka watched, he turned and faded away in a burst of mist.

"Tsuzuki!" Hisoka called into the night, hoping against hope that his partner would hear him. There was a sound behind him, but as he turned to look...

He had no time to react before the wolf was on him.

* * *

'_Hisoka has no idea that you know about his injuries. Act natural and play along. It's better to ask him about it when we're alone and he's calm than when he might have a heart attack with too much stress.' _

Even as Tsuzuki ran through his mental plan in his head, it was getting increasingly harder to adhere to the rules he had set up for himself. He was agitated and irritated, both from worry for his partner and the desire to grab him and shake some sense into his skinny little frame.

Tsuzuki knew Hisoka was a secretive person; it was even in his name. Plus his emotional abandonment by his parents and what had happened with Muraki... these things did not a trusting person make. And the boy had only been back at the office for the past three months, after five trying years during which many of the results of their partnership had unraveled.

Still, given their past history with one another and the fact that Hisoka had left intentionally to protect Tsuzuki and the other Shokan workers--not to mention himself--Tsuzuki would have hoped that he had retained a little bit of the trust they had held between them.

At the same time that he tried to stress patience with the boy, Tsuzuki couldn't help but feel that he wasn't getting any results. He wanted with all his heart for Hisoka to tell him about... well, his entire life if one got down to it, but only when the teen was ready.

Tsuzuki was beginning to think that the only way to get the point, and his feelings, across to the boy; he would have to confront Hisoka on these issues and try to talk it out. If it wasn't on even ground, then he at least wanted Hisoka to be able to control things.

Tsuzuki had very few illusions as to the results of a direct confrontation would be. These included yelling, beatings, a threat to an afterlife of pain and suffering... but he couldn't help but hope that if he backed Hisoka into a corner, the teen would finally have an opportunity to just... talk, without any fear of rejection.

'_Okay, the next time I get him alone, I'll ask him.'_ Tsuzuki halted before the closed infirmary door, sighing and threading his hands through his dark hair in frustration. Steeling his resolve, once he realized that this technically _was_ the next time he would be alone with his partner, he reached for the doorknob.

An instant later, something smashed against the window.

Hesitation and frustration instantly gone, Tsuzuki jerked open the door to reveal a maelstrom. Objects from all over the room were flying to and fro, and Hisoka was crouched in the midst of it all. He appeared to be fighting tooth and nail, and Tsuzuki realized with a start that he was sleeping.

Muraki was the first thought that came to mind, but even as the rage started to seep through his system Tsuzuki discarded it. For one thing, there was no screaming. Second, Hisoka was fighting, and while Tsuzuki would be overjoyed to learn that his partner had finally tried to stick up for himself in his nightmares, it just wasn't too likely.

Either way, he was going to hurt himself eventually with all of the hazardous materials flying around. So, fuda in hand and shield safely in place around him, Tsuzuki stepped into the room, heading straight for the eye of the storm.

His shield took a battering to say the least, and Tsuzuki wondered just why the hell Watari even kept so many breakable objects in his lab in the first damn place. He made a mental note to ask the scientist this as soon as physically possible, before focusing on picking a path through both the storm and the wreckage.

Hisoka's chest was heaving, one of the first signs of an impending panic attack, and he was getting tiny nicks and scratches all over his body from flying debris. If that in itself wasn't disturbing enough, he wasn't waking up. Tsuzuki knew that pain disrupted the boy's powers, but the damage Hisoka was receiving may not have been enough to break his concentration.

That was, until a glass beaker smashed into the side of Hisoka's head.

* * *

'_It __**burns**__.'_ Hisoka panted as he grasped his head in his hands, twining his hands into his blonde hair. He was dazed and confused; dreams weren't supposed to hurt, and he thought he was holding up pretty well under the circumstances. The wolf may have caught him by surprise, but it was still no Muraki.

All around him, he could only see a blur. But as things began to focus, his heart nearly skipped a beat as he saw what loomed over him; a figure in a trench coat. _'Is it Muraki? No..."_

Instead, Tsuzuki gradually came into focus, his face twisted with worry as he held the blonde tightly. A gentle hand smoothed away Hisoka's clenched fists, gently probing the damage to the blonde's head. His shields were lowered, and for a short time Hisoka could feel everything Tsuzuki felt: worry, frustration, affection, but the shields slammed back up the instant Hisoka began to probe further.

"Do not _ever _scare me like that again," Tsuzuki's voice still felt distant, but the intensity behind it rang out loud and clear.

"You know I can't keep promises like that," Hisoka murmured softly as the pain began to flow away, his healing abilities beginning the process of closing the jagged cut in his scalp.

"Yes, you can," Hisoka forced his eyes back into focus to see Tsuzuki's face about two inches away from his own. His partner's voice took on a gentler tone as he brushed the bangs from the teen's face. "Talk to me, Hisoka. That's all I'm asking from you. I... I want to be able to help. I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines."

Hisoka prepared to make a tired dismissal, but was unable to do so when Tsuzuki leaned forward and pressed their lips together. He blinked his brilliantly colored eyes in shock. Instinctively, his hands wound in Tsuzuki's hair, unconsciously moving closer to his partner.

It was odd, usually Tsuzuki could be goofy or hyper, but he was incredibly serious at the moment. His emotions took on a stern overtone as he pulled Hisoka closer to his body, before shifting into a more natural flow.

'_Don't worry, Hisoka. I'll be here for you... always.'

* * *

_

"Tsuzuki, I think I found something for sure this time-." Watari began as he approached the door, before stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of all the glass on the floor.

Fearing another of Hisoka's temper tantrums, he eased his head around the doorframe, before darting back, clamping his hands over his mouth to halt a burst of maniacal laughter that threatened to burst from his throat at the sight of Tsuzuki and Hisoka lip-locked in the middle of his lab. Sure, it was trashed beyond all redemption, but it was no worse than anything Watari himself did on a regular basis.

Besides, this was far too juicy an opportunity to pass up. While Watari was sorely tempted to walk in the room and spoil the moment, he feared whatever lover boy (i.e. Tsuzuki) would do to him. He opted for a less direct approach.

'_It's got to be in here somewhere... A-ha!' _Watari gave a mental jump for joy as he produced a digital camera from the pockets of his lab coat. _'And Tatsumi said I would never need this.'_

Certain that the pair was too distracted to notice, he angled the camera around the door, watching the screen as he quickly snapped a few photos. Grinning idiotically, Watari began to walk back in the direction he had come, twirling the camera on his finger by its lanyard. _'I knew they were an item! Should I buy them a nice little picture album to commemorate this occasion? Or should I just keep this around for ammo if I need it?'

* * *

_

Tsuzuki pulled back from Hisoka for a moment. "Did you hear something?"

* * *

Me: Ok, that ending was kinda pointless. Oh well. Almost every Watari fan would admit taht he'd be likely to do something like that. Plus, this is the first time I've tried writing a kissing scene, so go easy on me, please?

Muse: She finally got the guts to do it, and that's a miracle in itself.

Me: Right. Well, I may not be able to check my inbox for a while, but I hope I can head from you. -evil glare- **All** of you.

Muse: Or at least those who bothered to come back. After six months? -shakes head sadly- I don't blame them, especially with the quality of this chapter.


	13. Chapter Twelve

Me: Okay, slightly more calm now. A short while ago, the original version of this chapter revealed the full identity of the wolves. But I realized that spoiling the surprise was a sucky idea and changed it. Hope you don't mind. I did drop hints, so hopefully you'll figure it out before the grand unveiling.

Muse: She did get it up sooner, though.

Me: Yeah, and it's really great, cuz' it's way longer. It's like I smashed two chappies together. Sorry to make you guys wait. Been having bad mood swings, increased medication, blah blah blah. Anyone with depression out there knows what I'm talking about. But it threw my ability to write anything out of whack for around two months. To my credit, I did tell myself that I would work on the chapter over Spring Break...

Muse: And exactly how much did that help?

Me: None what-so freaking _ever!_ But I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. To quote Trace Adkins, "I got my game on". This chapter is about 25 percent fluff, 35 percent attempted sublety, and 40 percent very odd explanations. Don't take anything I say at face value. Before we start, I want to thank lots of musical artists, and of course, all you guys who've supported Once Bitten. Hmm... that seems like something I should say at the end, isn't it? Special thanks goes to jennamarie, SKIN READY, laustic, Trans, and, ah screw it! Thanks goes to all of you, so here's Once Bitten, Chapter Twelve!

* * *

Chapter Twelve

"He's late. Will I have to skin him just to set an example around here?" A black wolf, tinged with gold, sat next to the doorway, nails clicking on the floor in irritation. It continued to make loud growls of frustration as it began to pace around the room, red eyes flashing back in forth in an attempt to locate something to vent its frustration on.

Of course, its siblings knew better than to do anything that might send sparks flying.

As usual, they had taken their usual posts in any room: one on top of the large crate positioned to the back of the room and the other sitting beside it. The wolf with the white tipped ear lazily lifted its head from its paws to look down at her from above. She didn't like that; it made her feel inferior.

"Let's not fight until we're back in human form," their older brother suggested from where he sat beside the dumpster, ever the voice of reason as he read his sister's thoughts with perfect accuracy. "Save infighting for the omegas and save our energy for our enemies."

"You mean Kurosaki?" The wolf on top of the crate curled his lip back in what would have been a particularly ugly sneer. "I doubt it. Punk probably chickened out like last time and skipped town. Then our beloved sister will most likely have a conniption and thrash the underlings, in all likelihood Kai."

"He'd better not have left," The female wolf snapped angrily. Her eyes flashed as she rounded on her brothers. "I will not become Alpha simply by default. I will prove myself worthy if I have to track him all the way to goddamned China."

The white-tipped wolf glanced at her. "Wow. If I were in human form, I'd be whistling. You've got to be impressed by that kind of dedication. Just one problem, though. You don't know his scent."

"Don't have to," his sister sounded like a petulant child. "I may not know his scent _per se_, but he still has a residual aura from the wound. I first noticed it in the bar, but I thought it was just the lighting."

"I thought you never focused on psychic tracking," This time, it was the pitch black wolf who was doubting her. "You chose to focus on combat and form shifting, while we focused on tracking and leadership skills. That's why father picked you to succeed him."

"Yeah, and got himself offed one week later," The wolf on the crate snarled. "Didn't even give the rest of us a chance to prove ourselves."

"Enough," The female declared. Her form blurred, before the black-and-gold mass shifted into human form. She walked to the window and stared out as she lifted a single shutter of the blinds.

"I will find him, and I will eliminate him without fail. Not just for father, but for breaking your jaw," she glanced at the black wolf. "And for humiliating me time and again."

"Yes, but why not give one of us a shot?" The white-tipped wolf asked, a lilting tone to his voice that suggested a challenge. "I'd like to take a crack at Kurosaki myself. Being second-in-command is so boring."

"I'll stay out of this one," Their elder brother declared. "In my opinion, you're acting like a scorned bitch, sister dear."

"Fine," She muttered as she turned to the white-tipped wolf, her lips curling in a sneer. "He's all yours, _beta."_

* * *

He was going to go insane. Totally and completely insane.

For one thing, Tsuzuki had kissed him. _Kissed him._ While that part wasn't so bad, (not bad at all) Hisoka had no clue how to deal with the emotional fallout. For once, it was his own long-dormant emotions instead of those of others that hammered away at him. For once, that mask of anger and indifference was gone, leaving him feeling completely defenseless.

Tsuzuki gently pulled back, giving the teen his space and watched all of the conflicting emotions play out on his face. When he spoke, it was still with the same gentle patience that Hisoka had almost come to expect with him, but lurking behind that was the iron determination reserved for when Tsuzuki was trying to make a point. "What's going on, Hisoka?"

The teen's head snapped up at that comment as he attempted, once again, to feign ignorance. Old wounds, both emotional and physical, were tearing away at him and it was hard to breathe. "What do you mean?"

Tsuzuki sighed with patience, knowing immediately when his partner was attempting to play dumb. He probably shouldn't have kissed him... but if he had to catch the empath off balance to get some answers to his questions, so be it. "You know, although irritation is an endearing trait on you, I'm not as stupid as I make myself out to be, Hisoka. I can tell when there's something wrong, especially when my partner is concerned."

Hisoka winced, more at the elder's choice of words than anything else. He knew Tsuzuki was smarter than he acted (it came with his empathy) but he didn't try to be really harsh... but that wasn't true. Since he constantly tried to push others away, harsh was just the word to describe his manner.

"There's nothing wrong," he murmured, showing no emotion as he attempted to steer the conversation away from anything that might cause his soul to come out of the self-induced coma it had remained in for years. Why did Tsuzuki always affect him like that? "I'm perfectly fine."

Hisoka half-expected Tsuzuki to get angry. He expected him to rage. He expected him to (at the absolute worst) walk out on him. What he didn't expect was to look up and find a pair of amethyst eyes staring at him while a small smile played on their owner's face.

"What?"

Tsuzuki reached out and began to slide his fingers up and down the boy's right forearm. "Then why's this here?"

'_Uh-oh,'_ Hisoka suddenly began to take keen interest in the floor tiles, trying to come up with an appropriate response with his emotions and common sense so completely out of whack. Unfortunately, he could only come up with a half-assed dismissal. "It has nothing to do with you. Why should it matter?"

"Because you're my partner," Tsuzuki automatically responded with the same exact reply he always used when Hisoka questioned his motivations, though he had lowered his shields to let his partner feel the sincerity of his words. He leaned closer so that his next words were in the boy's ear, causing a shiver to run down Hisoka's spine. "And because I care about you. You should know that by now."

Hisoka flushed, recalling the kiss they had shared only minutes before. He tried to glance away, but Tsuzuki caught him, eyes searching the empath's. Giving up on that, he leaned his forehead against the boy's. "You know, you're going to have to tell me sooner or later, Hisoka. If only one of us makes the effort... it just isn't fair."

The look of guilt on the boy's face told Tsuzuki that he was aware of that too.

* * *

Watari's eyes were on the computer screen as Tsuzuki stalked back into his room, a frustrated expression on his face that was unlike him. His fingers clacked across the keyboard and the screen was reflected on his glasses. The blonde turned and raised a thin eyebrow at his aggravated friend. "What's wrong big fella? You look pretty down for one half of the office romance of the half-century."

Tsuzuki simply grumbled as he plopped down in the chair, never a good sign. Watari spun in his office chair and propped his head in one hand. "Okay, what's going on? You've got that guilty expression on your face."

Tsuzuki stared off into space for a long moment before speaking. "I kissed him..."

Watari grinned evilly. After all, Tsuzuki was only telling him something he already knew. "Is that all? Wow, you really are old-fashioned, aren't you?"

When Tsuzuki glanced up at him in surprise, the scientist continued. "You know, most of us assumed you two had already gotten past that." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at the brunette.

"I don't think he was very happy," Tsuzuki said unhappily. "He still refuses to talk to me, even after I cornered him."

"Tsuzuki, have you ever known Bon to be able to show his true feelings at the right time? He's been blocked out from emotions for so long, he probably just needs time to sort things out. It's his first response to anything that makes him feel conflicted. You know, like when he was depressed after the Queen Camellia."

Tsuzuki winced at the memory, but he knew that Watari was right. "Geez, how did you get so good at relationship therapy?"

"By watching you and Bon walking on eggshells around each other," Watari declared, before turning back to his computer screen. "But while Bon's having his cool down period, take a look at this."

Tsuzuki leaned over his shoulder, staring intently at the screen as Watari clicked on a link in the reference section. He raised his eyebrows. "Werewolves?"

"No, worse. Lycanthropes."

"You know I'm at a loss here, Watari. I've never even heard about this before."

"All right, I'll explain it," Watari said, adjusting his glasses over his amber eyes as he cleared his throat and launched into his speech.

"Lycanthropes aren't werewolves, _per se_, though that would be the impression that most humans would get upon encountering one of them. They're the real deal."

"What do you mean?"

"They aren't humans transforming into wolves. They're actually _demons_ that can take on a human form. Lycanthropes are unique in the fact that they abandoned the demon world to actively seek out humans as their prey. They also maintain a huge degree of discretion on their kills. In fact, this is the first time they've come to the Ministry's attention in over two centuries."

Watari stopped to take a swig of water. "From what I've heard, it seems there's a whole pack of them holed up in the Hyuga area. Why they're after Bon, I have no idea, but here's a juicy piece of information."

The blonde turned to look at Tsuzuki so that the amethyst-eyed shinigami could see the seriousness on his face. "That unique quality about the victims and Bon's wound, that they don't seal, is an inherited trait passed down only among the alpha wolf's bloodline. It's an agent found in their saliva that gives them an edge against their pack in case of mutiny."

"But Hisoka's wound looks more like a knife attack than a bite," Tsuzuki protested.

"I'm working on that. I have a feeling that if I do a little more digging, I'll hit paydirt," Watari clicked on a link. "Here's what a standard lycanthrope looks like."

Tsuzuki breathed in sharply as a picture appeared on the screen, showing a gigantic black wolf frighteningly similar to that which had attacked him and Hisoka.

"Looks like Bon's pissed off some very powerful people."

* * *

"Thanks for all the info, Watari." Tsuzuki bowed gratefully as he got up to leave the office.

The scientist smiled in return. "I'll let the chief know about the new developments in the case. You and Bon return to the living world and continue the search. Plus, you two can have a little 'alone time'."

"Right. I'll just have to give him a little space."

"Screw that!" The blonde declared, leaping on top of the desk with his fist up in the air. "The only way to handle this is a direct attack."

"I'll try to remember that," Tsuzuki chuckled, his face beading with sweat as he wondered how Tatsumi would react to Watari treading on his desk. He started to walk down the hallway, before he stopped, one hand on the doorframe. "Oh, and Watari..."

"Yes?" The scientist asked in a sing-song voice as he continued to click away at the computer.

"If I see that camera again, I'll smash it into bite-sized pieces and run them through a wood chipper. Then I'll ask Tatsumi to dock your pay."

* * *

The air was characteristically peaceful in the small park. Children were playing without a care as their parents kept careful watch, ready to deck any pervert that dared approach the kids. The weather was very mellow for early autumn, and it was all the shinigami could do not to plop under a tree and relax for an hour. Or two.

It was also the kind of place that would provide perfect coverage for a predator.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka stood under a nearby copse of trees, keeping a careful eye on things. They were in their spirit forms, but being under the leafy foliage made them feel a little more covered. Tsuzuki leaned against a large maple while Hisoka stood under an ash next to it.

In truth, they were killing time more than anything. After passing Watari's information to Hisoka, they had formed their base plan. Neither of the two expected the wolves to attack during the day, at least not at full strength. According to Watari, they were nearly equivalent to a normal human when not in their true forms.

The sun would go down in an hour or two, and then the real hunt would begin.

"Sense anything?" Tsuzuki asked, more out of habit than any real concern. He glanced at his more-silent-than-usual partner.

"No, everything's quiet here," Hisoka stated plainly, keeping his attention focused on the scene before them. He watched as a child's ball came to a rest near them. He raised an eyebrow and gestured toward it with his head. The ball bounced back to where the kids were playing.

Tsuzuki smiled as he glanced at him. "You sure you should have done that? I don't want to fill out paper work on a shinigami breach in the human world."

Hisoka snorted in reply, but that just told Tsuzuki that his mood was better than usual. "Judging from their energy, those kids are perfectly healthy. They can't see us, even if they tried."

They both remained silent for a moment, before Tsuzuki remembered something that had been bugging him for a while.

"Hey, Hisoka?" His partner turned his gaze to Tsuzuki. "Back at the warehouse, when you were fighting that lycan, you called him a 'child killing bastard'. You looked really angry. What was that all about?"

Hisoka's eyes darkened and his hand clenched into a fist, but Tsuzuki knew it was directed at the memory with no stigma to him for bringing it up. "It's exactly like I said. I picked up a few memories. Those wolves ate children."

"Normally, I'm the one bugged by the choice of victims, not the other way around." Tsuzuki was naturally appalled at the idea, but his partner was generally an unshakeable pillar. Normally, the amethyst eyed shinigami hung on to Hisoka, trusting the blonde to keep his cool and anchor him.

Hisoka shifted uncertainly under his gaze. "I can handle most things. But killing someone too young to defend themselves... it's unforgivable."

Tsuzuki understood perfectly as he recalled the boy's own childhood experiences. Between his parents on one end of the spectrum and Muraki waiting at the other, Hisoka never had a chance to fight back. He had grown up physically and mentally defenseless.

His partner had turned his back on Tsuzuki, his shoulders set in a way that indicated that he was trying to keep from pursuing the subject. Tsuzuki, making a split-second decision, pushed away from the maple and came up behind the teen. Hisoka must have been very deep in though indeed, for him to jump the instant Tsuzuki pulled the blonde back against him.

"Thank you, for telling me what's on your mind," He whispered in the empath's ear. Hisoka's brow furrowed in confusion for a moment, before he recalled their discussion back at the lab. How was it Tsuzuki could crack his exterior when no one else could?

They remained in a comfortable silence for a short while, Hisoka finally relaxing against his partner.

"You okay with this?" Tsuzuki asked, once again whispering in Hisoka's ear. His breath brushed his hair, making the teen shiver.

"I guess so."

"But are you sure? I need to know for certain."

Hisoka sighed and leaned back further, folding his arms. His eyes were distant once more, though whether deep in thought or lost in memories Tsuzuki didn't know. Probably a bit of both.

"I'm not used to this, Tsuzuki," Hisoka finally admitted after a prolonged silence. "No one has ever treated me the way you have, and I'm not sure what to do. You give freely, but I don't know exactly what I can bring to the table."

"You know I don't expect anything out of you."

"Yeah, but you said it yourself," Hisoka retorted fiercely. "If only one of us makes an effort, it's not fair."

The boy blushed at his outburst. Building relationships had never been his strong suit, and romantic ones... forget it. He wouldn't have even noticed the direction their partnership was taking if it hadn't been that kiss, and he still couldn't control his rampant emotions when he thought about it.

"Now you see my point of view," Tsuzuki stated smugly. Hisoka was about to argue with him, but froze at the sensation of Tsuzuki placing his lips on his neck. "Relax. I waited over seventy years. Anything worth having is worth waiting for."

Hisoka shivered at how uncannily the older man seemed to read him. He had been pondering for a while at just how far Tsuzuki's patience extended.

The silence was broken by the shrill screech of Tsuzuki's cell phone. The purpled eyed shinigami pulled back with a frustrated sigh, digging the cell out of his pockets. Hisoka moved away to a safe distance, but remained close enough to avoid giving an impression of creating a rift between them.

Tsuzuki talked quietly to whoever was on the other line, before his voice raised high enough that Hisoka could hear him. "Are you sure? Damnit!"

He clicked the phone off, turning to meet Hisoka's questioning gaze. "They've found more bodies."

* * *

Me: Poor Soka. He tries too hard. Anyways, like I said, don't take anything I stated about lycanthropes seriously. I'm working on the theory that every myth has a bit of truth in it, and the shinigami would be a more aware of that that other people.

Muse: And please don't go Latin on us. We know what it means, we just couldn't come up with anything else on such short notice. But technically, lycanthrope means "man-wolf", so it can be interpreted as a wolf turning into a man or vice versa. Like we said, don't think into it too much.

Me: Right. -glances up- OMG, Muse. Is it possible we may break 100 reviews this time?

Muse: It's pretty much guarenteed. Give yourself a pat on the back, Chrono.

Me: Anyways, I'm finally getting around to unraveling some of the answers to the questions I've been asked (that last bit was for you, jennamarie!). I seriously have to thank you guys for supporting me for well over a year. You guys rock and I love you all. See you in the next one!


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Come one, come all, pull up a seat to enjoy a long overdue treat. Do not bombard with flames galore, take it as it is at door. For you who've come and you who've been, enjoy Once Bitten, Chapter Thirteen.

Muse: That was the worst poem I've ever seen.

Me: Yeah. I wasn't going for awards, just grovelling at the feet of my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

"There were two victims; a male and a female living together in an apartment downtown. No prior criminal history, one daughter." Tatsumi sighed as he continued his synopsis. "The daughter's whereabouts are currently unknown."

Hisoka tensed across the break room. Tsuzuki glanced at him, knowing full well what was going through his head. How ironic was it that a child would be taken on the very same day the teen admitted to a hatred for child killers?

Tatsumi sat down as the Chief took control of the proceedings. "At any rate, we are operating on a shoot-to-kill basis. We need to take out this threat as soon as possible."

Tsuzuki and Hisoka nodded in perfect unison, both rising to their feet in the same synchronized pace and making their way to the door, only breaking it as Tsuzuki fell in step behind his partner. They nearly made it, before Konoe barked a fierce command. "Hold it!"

Shuddering and imagining inane errands to indulge Konoe's infamous sweet tooth, both halted in their tracks and turned, slipping back into a symmetric harmony with the other. Watching them, the other shinigami had to wonder if they were even aware of this or just acting naturally. Probably the latter.

"I want Watari to accompany you," The Chief said, swiveling in his chair. "He'll work with the ministry through the network and keep us updated. I've arranged a hotel for you, since it's getting too dangerous to involve humans any longer. That is all."

Both of the Kyushu shinigami let out a groan at the thought of Watari intruding on the peaceful life they had grown accustomed to over the past few days. The blonde scientist jumped up, winking suggestively at the pair. Hisoka almost wondered if _he_ was the empath, but the constant barrage of emotions battering his mind suggested otherwise. He opted to walk out, Tsuzuki at his side and Watari bringing up the rear.

"Don't worry, guys. You won't even know I'm there!"

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of," Hisoka muttered under his breath, blushing slightly at the look Tsuzuki gave him, indicating that he had caught the wayward comment. Watari laughed as well, and Hisoka made up his mind to stop saying his thoughts aloud. It only led to trouble.

* * *

As soon as his legs hit the ground in Chijou, Hisoka started walking. He felt his partner materialize not three seconds after him, Watari keeping the same pace. They shadowed him, and for once he felt remotely safe in this town. But knowing that the wolves were potentially waiting around the corner made him uneasy, hence the trip he had to take now.

Tsuzuki had followed without question for a few blocks, but upon seeing their surroundings change from dismal to middle-class, he had reason for inquiry. He quickened his pace to match his partner's and took his place beside him.

Hisoka was making yet another pointed attempt at ignoring him, focusing on weaving through the crowd, though he moved with such adept skill that Tsuzuki was certain he could do it in his sleep.

"Where we going, 'Soka?"

"Don't call me that," Hisoka's voice was a little softer than his usual snap, but it still carried a small strain of annoyance. "We're going to be fighting big ass wolves. I'm going to need some weapons."

"Huh?" Tsuzuki's face showed surprise. "Usually I'm the one shorting the budget, not you."

"Well, I would buy them myself, but since _someone_," He glared accusingly at Tsuzuki. "Had to drain my cash reserves with his sweet tooth last week, I have to use the ministry's funds. I'll pay them back later."

They halted before a relatively non-descript store exactly halfway between the good and bad sides of town. Hisoka pushed open the door, glancing at both older shinigami. "Wait here."

It was a command, not a request, and the look in Hisoka's eyes was daring them to challenge him. Since he could move things with his mind as well as interpret thoughts through emotions, both Tsuzuki and Watari decided to obey. Hisoka slammed the door behind him, leaving the other two out in the street.

Watari had been watching Tsuzuki and Hisoka, not missing the exchange of words between them moments before. As Tsuzuki slumped against the shop wall with a sigh, the blonde scientist decided it was time for a little relationship counseling.

Watari elbowed the brunette lightly in the ribs. "What's wrong now, big fella? Who's got your tongue; the cat or Bon?"

Tsuzuki sputtered lightly before slumping back against the wall. He replied in a sullen tone. "The cat, though I wouldn't mind it being otherwise."

"And? Give me details." Watari prodded.

"He is beginning to share his thoughts with me, but I don't know how to handle him or if I'm rushing things. It's like I'm walking on glass."

"Sounds like you're being too angsty to me," Watari deadpanned. "Seriously, Tsuzuki, lighten up. If anything, you're the best person for Bon. You're handling him just fine, so stop worrying about whether or not things go wrong and focus on the good things."

"I suppose..." Tsuzuki trailed off, looking up at the sky in a way that completely belied his answer.

Watari was about to issue forth a rather biting and/or suggestive comment when the door swung open again. Hisoka stepped out, carrying too medium sized packages wrapped in brown paper. He was once again refusing to look at anyone or anything, and didn't argue as Tsuzuki began to head uptown, towards the hotel they would be staying at for the remainder of the case.

He didn't say anything as Watari slowed his pace until they were practically walking shoulder-to-shoulder. The blonde lowered his voice by a marginal degree, hoping that Tsuzuki would be too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice. "I take it you heard that entire exchange?"

Hisoka nodded. "I called in the order earlier; otherwise I wouldn't have been out so fast. Also, I could tell what you were thinking. I'll work on this my own way, not yours, you sick pervert."

At least Watari had the dignity to look sheepish. "And just how long is that going to take, Bon? Get him any more discouraged and you'll have to mail him the resolution."

"That bad, huh?" Hisoka asked, surprising the scientist.

"I thought you were listening."

"I had to pay sometime," Hisoka muttered in a surly tone as he shouldered his packages. Watari eyeballed them with mistrust, wondering just what would require an immediate stop from an empath that could turn a pillow into a deadly weapon.

"Well, your boyfriend is depressed, and getting even more so by the minute. I'd say if you're going to step up, now would be the time to let him know it."

The empath immediately turned a burning glare in his direction. If looks could kill, Watari was certain this one would go through him like a hot knife through melted butter. It was just that bad.

"Exactly what are you implying, Watari?" The blonde's voice held an undercurrent of ice, much like his day-to-day mannerisms, if one knew how to look for it. Tsuzuki was truly the only one to escape from that particular element of Hisoka's cadence.

"I'm not implying anything," Watari answered smoothly. "But I am advising plenty. Think I should make a column in the paper?"

Hisoka glared lightly before shoving rather rudely past Watari to his partner's side. Watari watched as they exchanged a few words, before Tsuzuki sighed and placed an arm around the teen's shoulder. The empath stiffened slightly, but otherwise made no move to complain.

'_Perfect start,' _The scientist thought, slyly rubbing his hands together. He pulled a flask of liquid out of his coat. _'Now just a little suggestion and I'll have won my bet with Saya and Yuma.'_

He snuck closer to the two love-birds, whispering in Hisoka's ear just as they turned into a back alley shortcut to their hotel.

The people walking past the alley jumped as a loud scream permeated the air, followed by a distant splash.

Tsuzuki shook his head as Hisoka kicked the cover back over the man-hole, ignoring Watari's cries for mercy below. "Enlighten me as to why you did that?"

Hisoka shrugged. "Just throwing the rest of him down the gutter to join his mind."

* * *

"My hair will never be truly clean again," Watari whined as he stepped out of their bathroom, dressed in a fluffy white cotton robe and with a towel wrapped around his head. He had somehow stowed 003 in his pocket, and the fluffy owl was now snuggling in his damp hair on one shoulder.

"And this hotel will never truly have hot water again," Hisoka was diligently at work on Watari's computer. He gestured pointedly to the wall clock. "You were in there for two hours."

Tsuzuki lounged in a chair, taking up where Watari's whining had taken off. "Can we order room service, 'Soka?"

"No."

"But they have pie."

Hisoka sighed. "How about we eat somewhere that has pie _tomorrow_?"

"'Kay."

Watari's gaze drifted to the brown packages sitting on what he presumed was Hisoka's makeshift pallet. "Sleeping on the floor, Bon?"

"Of course," Hisoka replied somewhat testily, knowing full well where the blonde's mind was going. "I'd never give you something to tease me about."

"Oh, you've given me enough, I assure you," The scientist commented off-handedly. He hurried to fix himself a cup of coffee from the carafe. He noted with satisfaction that, while more things started flying his way than usual, there were no edged objects among them. "How will we conduct this investigation?"

"I already have a ground plan," The empath shut the laptop with a click. His eyes took on the slightly glazed appearance that indicated that he was deep in thought. "I'll take the patrol tonight, and you two can do a few sweeps to adjust to your surroundings in the daylight hours."

He was beset by both sides almost immediately.

"Nuh-uh! I'm coming too."

"Do you have a death-wish or something, Bon?"

"Relax," He commanded, a pillow floating threateningly off the bed. "Do you think this was a spur-of-the-moment decision? I've taken steps."

The wrapping was pulled off the packages with much gusto, revealing a pair of razor sharps wakizashis: ideal for close combat. Watari noted with admiration that Hisoka had indeed covered most bases as he pulled out a headset and clipped it on to one ear.

"I just finished setting up the software on the computer," The empath declared, moving one side of his jacket to reveal a receiver strapped to his waist. He tapped the device. "This is a GPS tracker, so you'll know where I am at all moments. And if all else fails, I've got this puppy."

He opened the other side of his jacket to reveal a Beretta handgun snugly fitting in a shoulder holster. Tsuzuki's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets.

"How many illegal things do you know how to do?"

"Enough," The teen admitted. "Just don't ask the how, and you won't be viewed as an accomplice."

"So," He finished, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I've got the short range covered with the swords. I have the medium range covered with telekinesis. And I've got short, medium, _and_ long range covered with the Beretta. Any other objections?"

There was a resounding and rather-put-off silence. Watari hurried to bring the computer back up and get the teen's equipment up and running. Tsuzuki slumped dejectedly in the chair.

"Hey," Hisoka moved to stand next to the older shinigami, effectively commanding his attention. He sighed, making certain that Watari was engrossed in his work and with his back to them before leaning forward and taking Tsuzuki's hand in his own. "This is a one night thing. Tomorrow, it'll be both of us canvassing the streets. I promise."

Tsuzuki's hand squeezed his, knowing full well how hard it was for Hisoka to make promises of any kind.

'_And besides,'_ Hisoka thought to himself as he shut the hotel room door behind him. _'That'll give us some time away from Watari.'_

* * *

His headset buzzed with static in his ear as Hisoka glanced carefully around a corner. He checked his watch almost anxiously. Six minutes.

The agreement between them was that he would check in with Watari and Tsuzuki every fifteen minutes, almost like a game of Marco Polo, only deadlier. It was a good thing, too. He needed to keep himself focused on the task at hand, psyched for combat as he canvassed a section of downtown back alleys.

This wasn't stealth mode. This was predator mode.

Wind rattled softly through a chain link fence to his right as he emerged from the alley to what looked to be an abandoned playground. The moon shone eerily on a rusted jungle gym and a collapsed play bridge. Even no, the sound of laughter had not been quite erased from the area.

It was also creepy as hell, and Hisoka eased his gun out of the holster as he took a step forward on the sidewalk, cursing how slow the adrenaline made everything seem.

"WHAT UP, BON?!" Watari's voice shrieked in his ear. If he had been in his ghost form, the blonde empath would have undoubtedly been launched into space. As it was, he still cleared a good foot and a half of air and landed with his ankle twisted to one side. There was a loud crack and a wave of nausea and vertigo washed over him.

"I swear to God, Watari, when I get back to that hotel room I will beat you so thoroughly that blood will be seeping out of your pores!" Hisoka hissed as one hand clutched the chain link in a death grip. He stood on one leg, whispering a silent thanks to the gods as he felt his accelerated healing take over.

It was only sprained. True, an incredibly bad sprain, but the teen would take what he could get at this point. A sprain would put him out of commission for a few minutes, but a broken bone could take up to an hour to heal completely. As much as he hated being locked in one position like a sitting duck, it was definitely preferable.

"This is Hisoka," He breathed into the headset, hearing Watari's confirmation on the other end. "It looks like I'll be staying here for a few minutes, so stay in contact."

"Getting tired, Bon?"

"No, your little stunt nearly broke my ankle. Give me time to heal and I'll move out, ASAP."

"We'll come get you," Tsuzuki's vehement voice sounded in his ear. Apparently, Watari had put them on speaker.

"Don't do anything stupid," Hisoka commanded harshly. There was a muffled groan as someone (obviously Tsuzuki) tripped in the background. "You two don't know this area well enough to teleport here, and I can't teleport back while I'm buzzed on pain. By the time you get here on foot, I'll be perfectly fine."

There was momentary silence. "But doesn't pain mean you can't use your telepathy either?"

"Its telekinesis, Tsuzuki, and yes," Hisoka confirmed, knowing that the other shinigami's alarm would be rising at this point. "But I've still got the gun and my swords. My back is to a fence, and I can see the entire area around me."

It was only a little white lie. Already, as if to prey on his insecurities, a light mist was rising in the area. He could see well enough, but only to a certain degree.

He could hear Watari and Tsuzuki conferring back in the hotel room and almost wished he was there. But he wouldn't let jittery nerves conquer him. He could be back soon enough and for now he needed to focus on the present.

A blast of static in his ear.

"Ok," Tsuzuki's soothing voice whispered, and Hisoka drew strength from that. Even if not in person, Tsuzuki was there. He'd be fine. "Continue the sweep. But once your leg had mended, I want you to get as far out of that area as possible."

"Just stay on the line," Hisoka whispered, for once not caring how young and vulnerable he sounded.

* * *

Me: Beginning: choppy. Middle: sucked. Ending: pride and joy. I had about a million excuses but now.... I just deserve to be chewed out. Anyone who comes back... I love you. Expect the next one soon, and I won't throw in bad poetry.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

HA! Bet no one thought I would get the next chapter up so soon. The muse is in a coma for things I don't feel like explaining, so for now I'm running the entire show. I feel so empowered.

Anyways, this chapter is shorter than the other, but it's just a set up for the next chappy, and I think I handled the atmosphere of this one well enough that you guys won't feel cheated and hopefully will be hungry for more. A special shout out goes to SKIN READY, my almost beta reader until I realized that most technological stuff hates my guts (including my computer, Helga). And another shout goes to all the folks who came back (or joined us) and reviewed the last chapter. I promised no bad poetry, so I'll just have to give you...

Once Bitten, Chapter 14!

_

* * *

_

Chapter Fourteen

The pack was growing restless.

The black wolf with the white tipped ear stoked the fire eagerly, sitting so serene and composed while his subordinates squirmed. A red aura, unseen by any of the other pack members, slowly surrounded him as he detected three other similar auras: two coming from the direction of the den and one about a mile south. Whereas his sibling's auras slowly shifted from time to time, the other aura had been motionless for a few minutes.

It was his time to shine.

The black wolf knew what his sister was doing. It was quite devious, in its own way. If the beta brother of the alpha wolf could take down Kurosaki, well, what did that say for the rest of them?

Oh well, he'd play her game.

He glanced at their trump card. Two of his men had shifted into their two legged forms and stood quiet guard. At their leader's glance, wolf like claws pierced tender young flesh.

The little girl would give Kurosaki enough pause until he was able to fully disable him. The white tipped wolf was taking no chances. He had used several rather creative punishments on that mewling sycophant Kai, not only to punish him for his earlier failure, but to gather information to use against his prey.

Telekinesis. It was unusual, but not unheard of in humans. But in Japan, more that any others, there seemed to be a particularly high concentration of gifted humans. In a population with such high rates of inbreeding and little genetic drift, it was no wonder. Kurosaki had always been a smug little bastard and he always seemed like, despite the skill he showed, he had something a little special.

It was time. Smirking inwardly to himself, the white tipped wolf marshaled his small contingent forward.

Cry, 'Havoc!' and let loose the hounds of war.

* * *

'_The mist,'_ Hisoka thought pensively to himself. _'Why is it always the damned mist?'_

The blonde empath still leaned against the fence, chain links rattling and making weird echoes in the night. He clutched the pistol in one hand but had let the fence take his full weight, drawing one of the wakizashis from its sheath under his jacket. He reminded himself that he would have to get a more appropriate coat. This was just annoying.

He lowered his foot to the ground, hissing and jerking back as pain shot through his nerve endings. It was much less painful than it had been, but that wasn't much of a consolation.

"You okay, 'Soka?" Tsuzuki's voice asked from the other end of the speaker, reverting to that annoying nickname as a way of soothing his partner.

"Just testing," Hisoka muttered hastily, trying not to rile the older man any more than he already was. They had enough problems to deal with without Hisoka's stubbornness or Tsuzuki's overprotective nature compounding things.

A scrambling cut through all considerations of his relationship issues. The boy withdrew into his warrior nature, drawing up his injured leg to balance against the fence. His shoulder blades pressed firmly against the crossbeam, supporting the blonde as he drew his sword back along his left arm and prepared himself to shoot at the slightest movement.

The noise continued, the sound of lupine claws ticking against pavement. The creak of a swing set came from the direction of the playground, now long obscured by the ghostly fog. Several black shapes began to materialize out of the miasma.

"Oh shit."

"What's wrong, Hisoka?" Tsuzuki sounded in his ear, voice giving way from concern to slight alarm.

The gunshot was the only thing that broke the silence.

* * *

It could never be said that Hisoka didn't know how to shoot. The Beretta was a good gun, but it had been built to stop people, and the thing he was firing at was far larger and anything but human. The bullet brought a bouquet of blood blooming out of the wolf's upper chest, but it slowed only a marginal fraction as it barreled towards him. Hisoka barely had time to crouch and swing his sword around as it closed the distance between him.

The sword bit into the wolf's chest, just below the collar bone, and wedged. Its head thrashed, trying to find a way to get its fangs near the boy's throat, but the empath had ducked too low to reach. Its forelegs were braced against the fence on either side of Hisoka's body.

The lycanthrope snorted and roared in frustration, trying to use its massive size to push forward and crush him despite the sword digging ever deeper into its flesh and bone. But Hisoka had the advantage of both the support of the fence and pure anger. Adrenaline coursing through his system and the dull edge of his sword pressing hard into his arm, he pushed forward.

Sweat beaded down his face as the wolf reapplied its weight on the blade. With a mighty shove, the empath knocked it back to the ground, sword unsticking from the wound with a sickening crunch.

Before the lycan could react, Hisoka brought his other arm around and put a bullet in its skull.

The Beretta might not have had stopping power from a range, but at point blank it did its job admirably. The bullet penetrated past flesh and bone, finally making the journey to the back of the skull. By then, it had lost much of its momentum, so that it actually pinged off the back and ricocheted through the grey matter contained therein. The wolf was completely and irrevocably dead.

Hisoka panted and leaned back against the fence for support, watching as the wolf's body was consumed by ghostly fires, taking it back to Hell where it belonged.

Four other shapes sat around him in a half-circle, keeping a fair distance as they watched the fight. A growl was issued collectively from the whole as the empath leveled the gun at the nearest.

"That won't do much good against these odds, would it?" A lanky figure broke through the center of the ranks, coming to a stop a good ten feet away from the blonde. A baseball cap and hoodie served to obscure most of its features, though the tell-tale red eyes shone like rubies within the dark.

"The boss figure, I presume," Hisoka smirked. He continued on, trying to buy himself enough time until his leg healed and he could teleport out. "No, more like a mid-boss."

"Sticks and stones will break your bones if you continue to use names that hurt me," The other replied. "And I'd suggest that you drop the gun and the butter knife."

"Why the hell would I do that?" Hisoka asked, ignoring the noises of choking distress that broke through on his headset. He could only pray that Tsuzuki stayed put as he stalled. Luckily, his hair had fallen free of its tie during the fight and now served to obscure the headset.

"As I said, they won't do you much good against so many of us," The lycan smirked. "But if you want another reason…"

He moved to the side as two more figures emerged from behind him, dragging something small and limp between them. Hisoka's eyes widened in shock and anger.

A small, mousy brown haired little girl sniffled and looked up at him with pitiful eyes.

'_No innocents involved,'_ Hisoka reminded himself, though he certainly didn't need it. His own code of honor, the very fiber of his being, rebelled at the thought of bringing harm to this child. He watched as the lycan crouched down behind the girl, wrapping his arms around her shoulders in a brutal parody of a familial embrace.

"I'd like you to meet Kazumi," He said, eyes drinking in every reaction coming from the teen. "Kazumi here has been rather down on her luck lately. The kindergarten years are so hard for children after all. And recently, it seems that her beloved parents became the latest victims of the Hyuga serial killer."

The mid-boss turned to the little girl. "Kazumi, be a dear and relieve our friend of his weapons."

Hisoka stood rigid as stone as the child approached him, one of the guards following her to keep either of them from trying to run. Tiny hands loosened limps fingers from the wakizashi's grip, the blade falling to the ground with a clatter. The guard kicked it away.

Hisoka barely noticed, so focused he was on the girl. Tears and snot flowed freely down her face as she loosened the gun from his grasp. Her voice was choked with sobs. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

How many times had he repeated that exact same mantra when his parents locked him in the basement? _'I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.'_

The Beretta went skittering across the ground like the sword. Mid-boss laughed cruelly. "Tie him up."

Hands reached through the holes in the fence and jerked him back by his jacket. The other guard moved forward, throwing a long two-by-four over the fence, which was matched against his frame on the other side. He jerked the empath's arms up to lay flat against the fence and pulled several knotted cords from his pocket. One of the hands dropped his jacket and began to thread the cord through the fence, tying both Hisoka and the board securely against it.

He struggled half-heartedly against his bonds as two more lycanthropes leapt over the fence to stand beside him. All the time, the little girl's pleas for mercy continued.

The mid-boss grinned viciously at him. "I think we can drop the act now, Kazumi."

The little girl morphed into a black wolf and ran to him.

Numbness turned to disbelief as Hisoka realized what had happened. He had been duped.

His gaze fell on his sword. It began to vibrate as he focused his powers on it.

"None of that," The lycan commanded as he picked up the pup, now transformed back into human form. At his words, one of the men standing next to the empath struck him across the face. Immediately, the sword ceased its movements.

Hisoka's head straightened to glare at the beast with piercing emerald eyes. Kazumi had wrapped her arms around her leader's neck and was grinning smugly at him. A trickle of blood slid down the empath's chin, his face already beginning to bruise. He slumped against the fence, his leg healed much too late.

"All a lie," He whispered, silence greeting him on his headset. His only hope was that Watari and Tsuzuki would get here quickly.

"Not all," The child gleefully told him, licking the blood from his chin in a way that reminded him too much of Muraki. "I needed her skin. She was tasty."

Hisoka's rage flared and he once again tried to summon his powers. It was no use. This time, it was the mid-boss struck him across the face.

"Always a cocky little bastard, Kurosaki. Always too dumb to know when you've been beat," He said in a voice reminiscent of the shrieks of a thousand sparrows. Hisoka's eyes narrowed. Where had he heard that voice before?

"You think you're pretty smart, right?" Hisoka knew he was smart, so he didn't dignify the rhetorical question with an answer. "Familiar with the Romans?"

"Adequately," Hisoka sneered, trying to buy some time. All hopes were lost as the mid-boss turned and accepted a few objects from a guard.

"Then you know what they did with their criminals," The lycan said, hefting a hammer and nails.

* * *

Dropped some hefty hints about the wolves to anyone who went back and reread the first few chapters. It'll probably seem really stupid when it all comes out in the end, but it was way smarter in my head than on paper.

Anyways, this chapter is shorter than usual because I'm trying to do two years of school work in one and am literally working myself to death. But I'll try to get one to two chapters done this weekend and get them up sometime next month.


End file.
